Should President Joe Biden succeed in being re-elected for another term in 2024, he will govern without the aid and support of a prominent ally on the Left Coast.
Portland, Oregon's progressive Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler announced on Wednesday that he will not run for a third consecutive term in that office in the 2024 election cycle, TheBlaze reported.
Instead, the controversial mayor who has managed to anger both the ideological right and left said that he intends to focus all of his attention and energy on improving the city during his remaining time in charge.
In a letter posted to social media, Mayor Wheeler wrote, "Over the last seven years, my administration has re-shaped City government to effectively respond to an unprecedented number of simultaneous challenges related to homelessness, public safety, livability, and economic recovery."
"Building these efforts to scale and making them effective has been, and will continue to be, my top priority," he continued. "On top of these innovative efforts, we are working through the complexities of implementing voter-approved changes to our city's charter. This transition is a significant undertaking."
"I am a firm believer in public service and know that when government is accountable and responsive to the needs of the community, it can be a force for good," Wheeler said. "Serving as the elected Mayor of Portland has been both humbling and the greatest privilege of my life."
The mayor proceeded to note the "inevitable questions" about whether he'd seek another term and the "numerous qualified Portlanders" who'd either already announced or signaled their intention to run for mayor -- many of whom were basing their final decision on what his plans were.
"Addressing our city’s critical challenges while, at the same time, fundamentally re-shaping city government requires all of my attention over the next 15 months," Wheeler revealed. "As such, I will not be seeking another term as your Mayor."
"I want to be clear that I will not be slowing down in my current leadership role," the mayor concluded. "I have great confidence in the steps we are taking to address the problems facing Portland today. We will continue building on that progress to ensure Portland's best years are ahead of us."
I have great confidence in the steps we are taking to address the problems facing Portland today. We will continue building on that progress to ensure Portland’s best years are ahead of us. pic.twitter.com/V8yVrigXDi
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) September 13, 2023
TheBlaze noted that Mayor Wheeler gained a measure of nationwide infamy in 2020 when he all but blessed and permitted leftist protesters and rioters, including Antifa and Black Lives Matter, to run rampant through the city and engage in deadly and destructive criminal behavior.
That, of course, greatly angered the right, but Wheeler also earned the enmity of the left by virtue of his occasional allowance of the Portland Police Bureau to actually do their jobs in terms of tough crowd control tactics with regard to the protests and riots.
The mayor further angered both sides by initially supporting the "defund the police" movement and authorizing a slashing of the PPB budget, which led to a mass exodus of officers and prompted him to later reverse his stance and increase police funding in an effort to rebuild the hollowed-out police force.
Meanwhile, according to the Daily Caller, under Mayor Wheeler's tenure, Portland went from being among the safest cities in America with an annual average of just 21 homicides from 2000 to 2019 to then set records in 2021 and 2022 with 92 and 101 homicides, respectively, after he defunded the police.
