In a sort of dramatic comeback, Reading Frenzy owner Chloe Eudaly has pulled from thousands of votes behind architect Stuart Emmons to a small lead in the race for second place. In the latest tally offered up by the Multnomah County Elections Office, Eudaly has 21,275 to Emmons' 21,218.
It's not totally clear how many more ballots are left to count in the race, [EDIT: There are around 43,000 unaccounted for, according to county elections data] but whatever's remaining may well favor Eudaly: Younger progressives—her core group of supporters—are most likely to vote late. Or at least that's what people say.
UPDATE, 4:39 pm As the O smartly notes, it's not just Multnomah County weighing in on this council race. Clackamas and Washington counties have a say, too, and they like Emmons. He's beating Eudaly 36 to 3 in Clackamas County, and 50 to 25 in Washington County—a difference of 58 votes. That means he's tecnically ahead, though the heft of the remaining Multnomah County votes could change that.
ORIGINAL POST
Too early to say what happens next, of course, but Emmons'comments from last night certainly seem prescient:
"I've got to get Novick under 50," he told the Mercury, "and Chloe [Eudaly] will help with that."
Novick still netted nearly three times the votes of either Eudaly or Emmons in the latest tally, and made clear to us last night he'd prefer a race against Eudaly, saying it would be "a nice civil campaign between two good lefties and we'll have a lot of fun together."
In fact, a race against Eudaly might also be easier for Novick, since it's not clear that the business types and West Hills residents that seemed to cotton to Emmons will feel the same about Eudaly's candidacy. There will be time to speculate on that if it happens, though. For now, this is interesting.
UPDATE, 7:43 pm: In the latest tally from Multnomah County, Eudaly's far outstripping Emmons. She's now up 1,012 votes. Results in Washington and Clackamas counties are the same, meaning Eudaly now holds a 954 vote advantage.