Despite Earlier Statements Fritz Announces Re-Election Run for Portland City Council

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Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Cornelius Swart, GoLocal PDX Director of Content

Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz announced Wednesday that she will run for city council re-election in 2016.  Under the Portland system of government city councilors also serve as commissioners of city bureaus. 

In the past Fritz had said that she was “never running for anything ever again.” The death of her husband, Dr. Steven Fritz, on Sept. 24, 2014, led to her rethinking her plans, according to a statement released by Amy Ruiz of Strategies 360.

Fritz made the following statement:

“Prior to Steve’s death in September, many Portlanders had asked me to reconsider and run again. My response was that I believed I would have earned a long and happy retirement with my husband, at the end of eight years in office.

When I was sworn in for my second term, I expected that I would have four more years of working long hours doing the public service I passionately believe in, while Steve pursued his vocation of compassionate patient care with the dedicated staff team at the State Hospital. My life completely changed on September 24th when Steve was killed. I am grateful to the many, many Portlanders who have reached out and offered their support and condolences, helping our family through the past four months.

And now, I have the choice to make something positive out of this horrible loss. I’ve been thinking about this over the past few months. My kids and I went away over the holidays, and I discussed it with them. I want to continue to serve Portland, with their full support and that of Steve’s parents who live in East Portland."

Fritz was first elected under the city’s now defunct public campaign financing system. If re-elected it would be her third term in office.

“I plan to keep doing what I said I would do when Portlanders elected me in 2008, and re-elected me in 2012—prioritizing basic services and spending taxpayers' money wisely,” Fritz stated in a media release. “I will continue to be that citizen voice on the Council, working hard for the remainder of this term. I hope Portlanders will support me in 2016, to allow me to keep serving our community.”

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