Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has privately told confidants and supporters that he will seek another term in office, though he remains officially undeclared and has publicly wavered about his reelection efforts.

During an after-hours meeting with several dozen business leaders last week, Wheeler described his accomplishments in office and said he would run again, according to three people who were present. The attendees asked their names not be published to maintain good relations with the mayor.

“He said he will be running,” said a person who was at the gathering, held in the offices of law firm Miller, Nash, Graham & Dunn. “He didn’t say he’s 95 percent sure. He said he’s running.”

The person said they were so confident of Wheeler’s decision to seek office again that it would be “misleading” if he backs away from a reelection campaign.

Another attendee said Wheeler made clear his intention to run again and discussed his desire for “balanced leadership within City Hall,” adding that he made no specific policy promises and did not seek campaign contributions.

Wheeler has also informed advisers that he plans to seek reelection. “He told me he’s running,” said Bob Stoll, a private attorney who has offered the mayor advice on homelessness policy. A senior city official said Wheeler has been adamant in private discussions about his reelection effort for at least two months.

Publicly, Wheeler has said voters should assume he is seeking reelection, though he has not committed. He told the Portland Tribune in May that he would seek reelection, for example, but declined to announce his candidacy even then.

Wheeler has said he must continue consulting his wife and daughter before making a final decision and pledged to announce his intentions after Labor Day. He was on vacation Tuesday and unavailable for comment.

Deciding whether to seek another term in office has been an internal battle for the mayor almost since the start. He has endured a bruising term in office during which a stubbornly persistent homelessness crisis and protests over police actions have overshadowed successes on infrastructure and housing investments.

Wheeler has said being mayor is frustrating and drew headlines last year with an off-the-cuff remark in which he said he “cannot wait” for his term to end. Yet the mayor – viewed by friends and advisers as a person with unyielding grit evidenced in part by his passion for mountaineering – also proclaimed in an April speech that being mayor is “my life’s work.”

Still, Wheeler’s campaign apparatus is not active. He broke with his campaign manager in March and has barely fund-raised, Willamette Week reported.

If and when he does declare for office again, Wheeler has a shot at becoming Portland’s first two-term mayor in more than 20 years. Vera Katz was the last multi-term mayor, elected to a third term in 2000.

Continuity at City Hall is an asset that could lead Wheeler to a successful second term, said Len Bergstein, a political consultant active in Portland politics, adding that experience with Portland’s unique commission-form government would make Wheeler a formidable incumbent.

Despite continued challenges addressing homelessness, Wheeler has successfully shepherded three budgets through the City Council and has worked well with his fellow commissioners to maintain comity, Bergstein said.

“The dynamics are in pretty good shape for Wheeler, if he figures out what he actually wants to get done, to do it,” he said.

Two others have already publicly indicated their candidacy for mayor.

Teressa Raiford, a Black Lives Matter activist, has said she wants to reform how City Hall works with Portlanders, including people of color. Her campaign website states the city government has for too long been “a bureaucratic nightmare with little accountability.”

Ozzie González, the sustainability director for construction company Howard S. Wright, has formed a campaign committee to fundraise for a mayoral race. He is a board member of TriMet, vice chairman of the Regional Arts & Culture Council and serves on the boards of the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Announcing his candidacy would not automatically put Wheeler’s name on the November 2020 ballot. The previous mayor, Charlie Hales, announced his reelection bid and even fund-raised but ultimately backed out after Wheeler entered the race.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com