Portland's council approved the Zenith–ISQ franchise transfer on September 23 after a 7–5 vote to reconsider and a 6–6 tie that Mayor Wilson broke, with all six progressive-caucus members voting no. Councilors Green and Morillo proposed a "Fair Share Tax" that their offices estimate would net $72 million a year by raising the CEO pay-ratio surtax on about 405 corporations and exempting about 18,000 small businesses. A UC Berkeley poll put Nithya Raman ahead of Karen Bass 39% to 28% in Los Angeles, a Times/Siena poll had Abdul El-Sayed at 49% to Mike Rogers's 44% in Michigan, and Stetson had Ashley Moody at 51% to Angie Nixon's 40% in Florida. Gallup's August survey recorded socialism's positive rating at 43%, its first reading above 39% since 2010, and NBC News reported the next day that its own poll found voters "remain wary of socialism and the Democratic Socialists of America."
Portland Mercury · 2026-09-23 · on the Zenith–ISQ franchise transfer, approved on a 6–6 tie
On September 23 the council voted 7–5 to reconsider the Zenith franchise transfer that had failed 5–6 with one absence on September 16; Koyama Lane, Morillo, Green, Avalos and Kanal opposed reconsidering, and Council President Dunphy joined Novick, Clark, Zimmerman, Smith, Pirtle-Guiney and Ryan to reopen it. The revote tied 6–6, with all six progressive-caucus members including Dunphy voting no, and Mayor Keith Wilson broke the tie to approve the transfer to ISQ Springer Holdings, his second tie-breaking vote since taking office. Dunphy told Willamette Week he voted to reconsider because he "hoped that there could be some negotiations to find mutually agreeable conditions," and the paper reported no such agreement was reached; Morillo posted that she voted no "because I believe accountability is not optional."
The Green–Morillo citizen-enforcement amendment to the same ordinance failed 6–6 on September 9, and Zenith sued the city in U.S. District Court in July over the delay.
Councilors Mitch Green and Angelita Morillo announced a "Fair Share Tax" ordinance that would raise the city's CEO pay-ratio surtax on about 405 publicly traded corporations from the current 10%–25% of business-tax liability to a sliding scale of 25% to 500%, while raising the business license tax exemption from $75,000 to $500,000 in gross receipts. Their offices said the Revenue Division estimated $88 million in new surtax revenue less $16 million from the small-business cut, a net $72 million a year, with about 18,000 businesses paying nothing and saving an average of about $900. Portland Metro Chamber president Andrew Hoan said "Local taxes work like tariffs"; Councilor Steve Novick, who introduced the 2016 surtax, told the Mercury he "rather like[s] this method of taxation" but wants "a broad coalition with agreement on what exactly the money would be spent on."
The existing surtax has generated about $5 million a year since 2017; the proposal is scheduled for the Finance and Governance Committee of the Whole on October 8.
KOIN · 2026-09-24 · on the CEI Hub fuel-storage reduction ordinances and the Green-led amendment
On September 24 the council held a first hearing on two Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub ordinances (2026-311 and 2026-312) that would require the hub's 11 bulk fuel terminals to cut storage capacity by at least 20% by December 1, 2036, then closed the oral record and continued both items to October 1. Councilor Green, with co-sponsors Pirtle-Guiney, Kanal, Clark and Koyama Lane, filed an amendment directing the city administrator to report alternative reduction approaches by September 1, 2027, deleting the aviation-fuel exemption, and moving to annual reporting; Councilor Novick filed three amendments of his own. KOIN reported a McCullough Research paper describing the risks from wildfire, flood and a Cascadia earthquake as "grave."
The written record closes October 1 at noon and the hearing resumes at 2 p.m. that day, time certain.
Mayor Keith Wilson told KGW's "Straight Talk" that he has declined to endorse three incumbents, Angelita Morillo, Tiffany Koyama Lane and Mitch Green, saying "I have a litmus test and I can't in good conscience endorse anybody who advocates for the abolishment of our police." Wilson said all three answered a questionnaire committing to a "national platform" that included abolishing the police, and that Morillo and Koyama Lane "made similar commitments in writing" to Green's. He said whether Green should resign is "a conversation that Councilor Green has to have with his conscience"; Portland DSA posted that "None of those candidates sought Wilson's endorsement."
Wilson has endorsed Kellie Torres in District 3 and Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards for Multnomah County chair.
Portland Mercury · 2026-09-24 · on the Ditch Mitch, Go PDX and Fix MultCo PACs and their billboards
The Mercury reported that three PACs registered to activist Kyle Prosen — Ditch Mitch, Go PDX and Fix MultCo — filed statements of organization on September 14, seven days after the first "Ditch Mitch" billboard went up on Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, and that United for Portland Action Fund, whose treasurer is Portland Metro Chamber executive Jon Isaacs, is listed as the billboards' top funder. A second anti-Green billboard went up on St. Helens Road and a third in Foster/Powell; Lamar's public dashboard lists the Beaverton Hillsdale sign at $6,500 for four weeks and a Fix MultCo billboard for Julia Brim-Edwards at $10,000 for four weeks. Green told KPTV "I'm not surprised to see that the Portland Metro Chamber is funding these billboards and these attacks"; the Mercury reported he paid the $7,328 property tax bill cited on the billboard on June 29.
Oregon law requires a PAC to file a statement of organization within three days of receiving a contribution or making an expenditure.
Four Oregon voters filed complaints with the Secretary of State's office alleging that Police Chief Bob Day's statement on the city website responding to Councilor Green's resurfaced 2020–21 posts violated the state law barring non-elected public employees from political activity, KPTV reported. The complainants said Day used his position and city resources to "campaign" against Green, who is running for re-election; Day's statement did not name Green but said "I no longer have confidence that this councilor is evaluating the police bureau reasonably and objectively." The Secretary of State's office said it had not determined whether to open an investigation.
The Portland Police Association called for Green's resignation the previous week; Green declined in a KGW interview on September 17.
Sunrise PDX organized a rally and bike relay at the Moda Center on September 26, with Portland DSA also helping organize; about 30 people rode laps around the arena, and Councilors Morillo, Green and Koyama Lane, who all voted against the August term sheet, addressed the crowd. Morillo said the city was "making a multi-million deal with your taxpayer dollars for a billionaire who can very easily afford to do this on his own," and Portland Association of Teachers president Alisha Chavez said Portland Public Schools faces 20 school closures. The Oregonian reported the state has committed $365 million in bonds, Multnomah County up to $101.6 million, and the council approved a nonbinding $120 million term sheet plus $275 million in maintenance over 20 years on an 8–4 vote.
The state's $365 million commitment carries a December deadline and is contingent on the sides reaching a new lease agreement.
KPTV · 2026-09-24 · on the Green, Pirtle-Guiney, Morillo and Koyama Lane psychedelics ordinance
The council on September 23 passed to second reading, as amended, an ordinance introduced by Councilors Green, Pirtle-Guiney, Morillo and Koyama Lane that would make personal, non-commercial use of naturally occurring psychedelic plants and fungi one of the city's lowest police priorities and create a Portland Psychedelics Advisory Commission, according to the council record. Green, an Army veteran, told the chamber "I share the PTSD that many of you have for my service, and I think that's why I chose to throw my support behind this ordinance." City officials said the financial impact would be minimal and paid from existing budgets; police would still investigate sales and impaired driving.
The ordinance (2026-186) is scheduled for second reading and final vote on September 30.
A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Times put Councilmember Nithya Raman at 39% and Mayor Karen Bass at 28% among likely Los Angeles voters, with 33% undecided; it surveyed 2,150 likely city voters online September 15–20. Bass's favorability was 28% favorable to 63% unfavorable, and Raman's 40% to 39%. IGS director Mark DiCamillo said "Raman clearly has the advantage" and called the share of undecided voters "extraordinarily unusual" this close to an election.
Bass finished first in the June 2 primary, 34% to Raman's 29%; mail ballots for the November 3 runoff go out beginning October 1.
The New York Times · 2026-09-24 · on the New York Times/Siena poll putting El-Sayed at 49% to Rogers's 44%
A New York Times/Siena University poll found Abdul El-Sayed leading Mike Rogers 49% to 44%, with El-Sayed viewed favorably by 47% to Rogers's 39%. The Times reported that 50% of voters called El-Sayed the more extreme candidate against 36% for Rogers, that Rogers led by nine points among voters 45 and older, and that El-Sayed led by 39 points among voters 44 and younger. 62% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters said the primary "made the party stronger."
A Suffolk University poll of 500 likely voters conducted September 16–20 had El-Sayed 47% to 40%, and Sabato's Crystal Ball moved the race from Toss-up to Leans Democratic on September 22.
Stetson University Center for Public Opinion Research · 2026-09-23
Stetson's survey of 830 Floridians, conducted online September 14–21, found Sen. Ashley Moody at 51% and Angie Nixon at 40%, with 3% for another candidate and 5% undecided; the release said the results include undecided voters who named a candidate they leaned toward. Stetson reported Moody's support unchanged from its spring survey at 51%, Nixon's up from 38% to 40%, and that 32% of Floridians had never heard of Nixon while 25% knew her and rejected her. Political scientist Kelly Smith wrote that the Republican leads "rest on genuine support, not just negative partisanship."
An InsiderAdvantage poll of 600 likely voters conducted September 20–21 had Moody at 49% to Nixon's 42%.
President Trump met Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion on September 21 and told him "Hopefully you're going to be a great one," the AP reported, in a story describing Republicans from Georgia and Texas to New York and Michigan as focused on the rise of democratic socialism in the midterm season; Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Tom Emmer had called Mamdani "Comrade Mamdani" and "Mamdani the commie" at Trump's midterm convention in Texas earlier in the month. Republican strategist Doug Heye said of the meeting, "It doesn't help." Mamdani said, "I will continue to have conversations with the president, and frankly, anyone who can deliver relief to the people of this city."
The Guardian reported it was the first presidential visit to Gracie Mansion in 45 years, since Ronald Reagan met Ed Koch there in 1981.
The Detroit News (Bloomberg) · 2026-09-25 · on America PAC's $3.4 million in the Michigan Senate race
Federal Election Commission filings showed Elon Musk's America PAC had spent $16.6 million in U.S. Senate contests, including $3.4 million in the Michigan race between Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers, $6.3 million in Texas, and $3.1 million across more than 30 House districts, Bloomberg reported. Its door hangers in New York's lower Hudson Valley read "The Socialist Left is Destroying America" over images of Democrat Cait Conley, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders. A Democratic National Committee fundraising email for El-Sayed said, "If Elon buys every ad break between now and November, most Michiganders will only hear his version of me."
America PAC reported about $274,000 cash on hand at the end of June; its third-quarter FEC report is due October 15.
Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said at a Capitol news conference on September 23 that "the candidate in Florida, she's a card-carrying member of the Democrat Socialists of America" and described the election as a "clear choice between Republican, common-sense individuals, and these crazy, radical Democrats." Nixon responded on CBS News 24/7 the next day that "this is not about three letters" and "If it wasn't DSA, they would be attacking me on something." She said her campaign was about health care access, affordable housing, universal child care and "lowering the costs."
On September 22 Nixon resolved her May Capitol trespassing case without a guilty plea, with a $250 fine and 15 hours of community service, according to The 19th.
KSTP · 2026-09-22 · on the Flanagan–Tafoya debate schedule
KSTP said it will host primetime statewide debates on October 2 for governor, U.S. Senate and attorney general, and that Michele Tafoya, the Republican Senate nominee, Lisa Demuth and Ron Schutz had confirmed plans to appear; Peggy Flanagan was not among those listed as confirmed. The station reported there were no mutually agreed televised debates in any statewide Minnesota race as of September 22, four days after early voting began. Larry Jacobs of the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School said each debate decision came down to "Strategy. Who is it going to help. Who is it going to hurt?"
Early voting in Minnesota began September 18; the 2022 governor's race had two debates.
Gallup reported that 43% of Americans held a positive view of socialism in its August survey, the first reading above 39% since the trend began in 2010, while capitalism held at 55% and big business fell to 35%. Gallup attributed the year-over-year rise entirely to independents, whose positive rating went from 37% to 45%, with Democrats flat at 65% and Republicans at 14%; Democrats' positive rating of capitalism fell from 42% to 35%. Among adults 18 to 34, Gallup found socialism rated more positively than capitalism, 57% to 43%.
The poll is based on ReconMR telephone interviews August 3–24 with 1,200 adults, margin of error ±4 points.
NBC News reported that its September national survey found voter concern about capitalism rising while voters "remain wary of socialism and the Democratic Socialists of America," and that more voters under 30 held positive views of socialism than of capitalism for the first time in its polling. Voz, reporting the poll's toplines, put socialism at 52% negative to 21% positive among registered voters, the DSA at 50% negative to 22% favorable, and capitalism at 48% positive to 29% negative, down from 52% positive in 2018; among voters 18 to 29 it reported the negative view of capitalism rising from 22% in 2018 to 47% and the positive view of socialism from 28% to 42%. Half of voters said they would be less likely to back a candidate who supported many DSA proposals, against 31% more likely.
The poll was fielded September 11–15 with a margin of error of ±3.1 points; NBC's article links the poll document on DocumentCloud.
In Jacobin, Branko Marcetic argued that recent polls show socialism's appeal is broader than the "young, well-off, and highly educated white progressives" it says the general narrative assigns it, citing Gallup's 43% positive rating and its rise among independents to 45%, and New York Times/Siena crosstabs in which white voters rated socialism least favorably while Black and Latino voters were at +4 each. He argued the relevant comparison is the MAGA movement, which he said had a 24% positive rating in April 2023 before winning in 2024. He contrasted that with DSA's membership, which he said the organization's internal polling put at 60% white, down from 85% five years ago.
The piece draws on the Gallup August 3–24 survey, a New York Times/Siena national likely-voter poll, and a Liberal Currents/Center for Strategic Politics survey of 683 Democratic voters published September 21.
Deseret News · 2026-09-25 · on the Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll on democratic socialism
The Deseret News reported that a Morning Consult survey for the Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics found just under two-thirds of Democratic voters nationally, and almost three-quarters in Utah, held a favorable view of candidates calling themselves democratic socialists. It reported that 7 in 10 Democratic voters with four years of college supported democratic socialism as an economic system against 52% of those without, that more than 64% of Democratic voters 18 to 34 supported "socialism" as an economic system, and that among all voters 55% supported capitalism, 29% opposed it, and the "democratic socialist" label was viewed favorably by 39%. Asked what the term meant, 22% of voters said universal healthcare and a stronger safety net and 22% said they did not know.
The national sample is 2,102 registered voters surveyed September 10–14 (±2 points); the Utah sample is 744 voters (±4 points).
2026-09-30 — Portland City Council second reading of the psychedelics ordinance (2026-186), in the 9:30 a.m. session. (source)
2026-10-01 — Portland City Council resumes the CEI Hub fuel-storage ordinances (2026-311 and 2026-312) at 2 p.m.; written record closes at noon. (source)
2026-10-01 — Mail ballots begin going out for the November 3 Los Angeles mayoral runoff. (source)
2026-10-02 — KSTP primetime Minnesota governor, U.S. Senate and attorney general debates; Tafoya confirmed, Flanagan not as of September 22. (source)
2026-10-05 — NW Examiner District 4 debate with Green, Clark, Zimmerman and Arnold, Centerstage at the Armory, 5 p.m. (source)
2026-10-08 — Fair Share Tax ordinance at Portland's Finance and Governance Committee of the Whole. (source)
2026-10-08 — First Michigan Senate debate between El-Sayed and Rogers, WOOD-TV, Grand Rapids. (source)
2026-10-15 — America PAC third-quarter FEC report due. (source)
2026-10-21 — Second Michigan Senate debate between El-Sayed and Rogers, WXYZ-TV, Detroit. (source)
2026-11-03 — Election Day: Portland council Districts 3 and 4. (source)
2026-11-03 — Los Angeles mayoral runoff between Bass and Raman. (source)
2026-11-03 — Michigan Senate general election, El-Sayed vs. Rogers. (source)