On Jan. 14, the Portland City Council elected Jamie Dunphy as the Council President. The decision comes after three grueling meetings in which the progressive caucus, known as Peacock, and other council members were seemingly unable to reach a decision.
The divide in Portland’s City Council began earlier in 2025, when leaked group messages revealed that Peacock members were texting during the council’s budget meetings, allowing their agenda to push forward. The caucus includes six members: Angelita Morillo, Candace Avalos, Jamie Dunphy, Sameer Kanal, Tiffany Koyama Lane and Mitch Green, exactly half of the city council, representing most of the councilors of color.
Once the messages were revealed, council members quickly began treating the Peacock team as the enemy, refusing to vote for their measures or candidacies. Once the vote began on Jan. 7, councilors Loretta Smith and Steve Novick stated they would not be supporting any Peacock members in a Zoom-recorded meeting.
This standstill continued for the next six hours, with Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney and nominee Kanal receiving six votes each. As the meeting came to an end, the voting was set to continue on Thursday, Jan. 8, although a federal shooting interrupted the process.
On Jan. 13, a day before the next meeting, the Portland Mercury reported that text messages from Brian Owendoff, a prominent Portland real estate developer, had been leaked. The article suggested racist undertones were used while discussing the progressive caucus. These messages were being sent at the same time Councilor Morillo insinuated Councilor Eric Zimmerman’s comments about Councilor Kanal during their Jan. 7 meeting had racist undertones.
The council moved on to its third and final meeting on Jan. 14, now with Dunphy, Smith and Novick running for presidency as well. Tensions continued to rise, and with no end in sight, Councilor Zimmerman suggested changing the voting method to be done by ranked choice. Despite the suggestion, council members continued voting regularly, causing Kanal to remove his name from the running and endorse fellow Peacock Dunphy.
“If the only way out of an entrenched 6-6 stalemate is for me to step into this role, then I’m willing, not happy, but willing to do this in service of this institution,” Dunphy said. “I will use this role to distribute power, not consolidate it…The media paints us along party lines, and it’s not accurate. I’ll do everything in my power to make this position less powerful and more of a facilitative role.”
After an extra hour of deliberation, councilors Pirtle-Guiney and Olivia Clark decided to endorse Dunphy alongside Kanal. On their final vote of the day, Dunphy was elected as council president for 2026, announcing he would be leaving Peacock for this year.
