Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler broke new city election rules by not properly disclosing his largest campaign contributors on his re-election website or two campaign social media accounts, the City’s Auditor’s Office ruled Tuesday.

City election rules that took effect with this election cycle require candidates to prominently list the top five donors who’ve given more than $1,000 on campaign communications, said city elections officer Deborah Scroggin. Wheeler announces “Paid for by Friends of Ted Wheeler” on his campaign website, but the top contributors aren’t identified there or on his re-election Facebook page or Twitter account.

The ruling came in response to a complaint filed March 20 by Ronald Buel, a member of political action committee Honest Elections Oregon, which pushed for increased campaign finance rules.

Wheeler’s campaign website was updated to list the top five contributors by Tuesday evening.

Wheeler had until May 5 to list the contributors, appeal with the Multnomah County Circuit Court or risk being fined up to $9,000 for the three violations, Scroggin said. Wheeler’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an April 7 letter to Scroggin in response to Buel’s complaint, Wheeler’s campaign manager Amy Rathfelder said the mayor was in compliance with state elections law and that noting “Paid for by Friends of Ted Wheeler” on all communications to Portland voters should be enough of a funding disclosure.

Buel said Tuesday that he thought it was “ridiculous” that Wheeler’s campaign was allowed until early May to comply.

"The campaign should be required to comply immediately,” he said in a statement. “There is nothing in the charter amendment that gives a campaign an extra 14 days of failing to disclose its donors, particularly this close to the election."

Scroggin said the extended deadline was “due to the complexity of the newly adopted campaign regulations and the disruption to business caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“I strongly encourage the campaign to familiarize itself with these campaign regulations and correct the violations on all campaign communications as quickly as possible,” she said in a letter to Wheeler’s campaign announcing the violations.

As of March 20, Wheeler had 30 contributors who gave more than $1,000, Scroggin said. The top four were Melvin Mark Brokerage Co., the Local 48 branch of the electricians union, Portland Metro Association of Realtors and Peter Brix, former owner of Columbia River tugboat and barge company Brix Maritime.

There was a seven-way tie for Wheeler’s fifth-largest contributor, which included grocery store chain Kroger, Portland Metro Firefighters PAC, Brix’s spouse Noydena Brix and local developer Mark Madden.

Based on campaign finance disclosures made as of Tuesday, Wheeler's six largest contributors are the electricians union, which has given his campaign $25,000 since he took office in 2017, and five donors that have given $10,000 each: Nike, the Portland Metro Association of Realtors, Peter Brix, lumber and transportation magnate Peter Stott and metals recycling executive Warren Rosenfeld.

The campaign donor disclosure rule was among the provisions of a November 2018 voter-approved measure regulating campaign finance. The majority of the provisions in the measure, including a $500 limit on any contributor’s donations, were ruled unconstitutional by a Multnomah County circuit judge several months after Portland voters approved it. But the section regarding campaign disclosures was upheld and has been in effect since last September, Scroggin said.

Most other mayoral challengers and city council candidates haven’t raised $1,000 from a single donor or can’t due to public campaign financing rules.

Ozzie Gonzalez, one of Wheeler’s primary election opponent, has accepted several campaign donations between $1,000 and $5,000, records show. He also doesn’t appear to list his five largest donors on his campaign website or social media accounts as of Tuesday either.

Jack Kerfoot, a candidate running to complete the term of late Commissioner Nick Fish, has used thousands of dollars of his own money to fund his campaign and lists himself on his website as his campaign’s largest contributor.

Buel previously filed election violation complaints with the city against Wheeler, Gonzalez and Kerfoot for accepting donations larger than $500, but Scroggin later dismissed the complaints because the Multnomah County court ruling.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 |@EvertonBailey

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