Portland's mayoral race divided the city.

On Portland's west side, voters overwhelmingly threw support behind former city Commissioner

in the May 15 primary while state Rep.

squeaked out the slightest of eastside leads, according to precinct data analyzed by The Oregonian.

Those trends set the stage for a Nov.6 general election that promises to be vastly different, with 21 fewer candidates on the mayoral ticket and Eileen Brady's 29,000-plus votes up for grabs. Political wisdom suggests Hales will maintain his stronghold in Portland's well-to-do West Hills while Smith, who lives in east Portland, will hold an advantage east of 82nd, leaving the city's liberal-leaning inner east side filled with swing voters.

But Len Bergstein, a lobbyist and political analyst, said the biggest challenge for the campaigns will be connecting with Portlanders who turn out for the presidential election. More than 135,000 Portlanders voted for mayor in the primary, and overall turnout is expect to grow by about 100,000 in November.

"This is such a totally new electorate coming up in the general election," Bergstein said.

The Oregonian's review of precinct data found that Hales, a former westside resident who now lives in Southeast Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, secured about 6,200 more votes than Smith west of the Willamette River. Of the nearly 33,000 votes cast there, 44 percent went to Hales compared with 25 percent for Smith.

More

Smith, meanwhile, edged Hales by more than 300 votes on Portland's east side. Of more than 102,000 votes, 35.3 percent favored Smith to Hales' 34.9 percent.

Hales' citywide advantage over Smith? Just above four percentage points, or 5,919 votes.

It was a close election across the city," Hales said Tuesday. On why he did so well on the west side:

"I think people are paying attention," he said of voters there. "Maybe the readership of The Oregonian is higher. I also used to live there."

Smith said his campaign focused on "reaching out to middle-class communities and some underserved communities" and isn't surprised by Hales' westside dominance.

"I think my voters have a hard time climbing tall hills," said Smith, who built a lead of 863 votes over Hales in precincts exclusively east of 82nd Avenue.

Hales, however, secured slightly more votes than Smith in inner Southeast, inner Northeast and North Portland. Hales also carried every precinct with at least 2,000 votes cast, including strong showings in his Eastmoreland neighborhood, Alameda, Grant Park and Laurelhurst.

Smith said he figures Brady voters will split between himself and Hales. Asked about Hales picking up several key eastside neighborhoods, Smith noted that he had to make up ground after entering the mayoral race four months after Hales.

"It's a close election," Smith said.

In Portland's other contested race, final results gave Portland Commissioner

a 1,474 vote lead -- 1.2 percentage points -- over state Rep.

, her challenger. Because neither secured more than 50 percent of the vote, they, too, will head to the November runoff.

Geographic preference was less distinct in that race. Both candidates hail from Southwest Portland, and each took parts of the West Hills. Fritz carried every precinct in North Portland and nearly every other west of 82nd Avenue, while Nolan had stronger numbers in east Portland.

"Those numbers are just kind of surprising," Bergstein, the political consultant, said of Nolan's outer eastside showing.

But for all the geographic analysis, there are still five months of campaigning that remain -- and thousands of new voters left to woo.

"It's a different pie," Hales said. "There are a lot of people who are going to vote in the November election who didn't vote in May. And they're all over the place. It's not a rinse and repeat campaign."

--

; On