Editorial endorsement November 2026: Change the mix on City Council by electing these endorsed candidates

DISTRICT 3

District 3 spans most of inner Southeast Portland to Southeast 82nd Avenue and includes a portion of Northeast Portland. The incumbents are Steve Novick, Angelita Morillo and Tiffany Koyama Lane. We endorse challenger Kellie Torres, Novick and Morillo in that order.

Kellie Torres

Torres, 56, isn’t fazed by chaos or the lack of a roadmap. Instead, her work both inside and outside of Portland city government shows she brings the ingenuity and work ethic to find solutions for unsolved problems.

Torres previously served as City Councilor Dan Ryan’s chief of staff from 2020 to 2024 where she led the charge on setting up several “Safe Rest Villages” — alternative, tiny-home-like shelters to house the homeless and connect them to services. While similar sites have since become a well-regarded strategy for helping move people from the streets to permanent housing, the villages were controversial at the time. But Torres capably handled the logistics of building the villages, navigating political opposition and assuaging neighbors’ concerns to get them open.

Now, overseeing external affairs and partnerships in Portland Parks and Recreation, she works with community members, businesses and others to support parks and retain services without having to ask taxpayers to pay more. Her ability to navigate uncharted territory — siting a homeless village, working to reopen the Laurelhurst dance studio or helping streamline the city’s notoriously broken permit system — demonstrates the constructive cooperation needed on City Council to fix big problems. Her focus on affordability, economic vitality and improving delivery of basic public services shows her priorities line up with those of Portlanders who want this city to thrive. District 3 voters should make Torres their number one pick to help make it happen.