Recall Recall Now Seems Dominated By Mannix—Updated With Mannix Response: "Bemused & Detached"

Published Feb. 15, 2010 at 12:39 p.m.

Recall 2 spokeswoman Avel Gordly told the Mercury in early January that the new campaign to recall Mayor Sam Adams is "not about Kevin Mannix and what he supports or does not support." But at this point, it seems to be almost exclusively about the former head of the Republican Party in Oregon: Firms associated with Mannix and his associates have actually made more from the recall over the last 30 days than they have contributed to it!

• RECALL RECALL: POSITIVELY INVITING SATIRE, PARODY, AND RIDICULE AT THIS POINT

The campaign is on a 30-day reporting schedule, which means it has that long to declare any contribution or expenditure.

• KEVIN MANNIX (LEFT): FRIENDS IN UNPOPULAR PLACES

The campaign has raised just $1351.25 since it last told voters at the end of January that it had raised a paltry $18,000. Of those contributions, just $100 came in cash. The rest is in the form of in-kind contributions, the vast majority of which come from the signature-gathering firm of right-winger and outspoken opponent of gay rights, Kevin Mannix.

Mannix's firm Voice Of The Electorate—which used convicted sex offenders and fraudsters to gather signatures for the "No on 66/67" campaign last year—has contributed almost $1000 in in-kind donations by giving the campaign a downtown office and providing literature and brochure printing services...

• RECALL RECALL DONATIONS: LEAN, AND LEANING WAY RIGHT

Mannix's associates have actually made money back on the deal, however. Reporter Jim Redden at the Portland Tribune explains:

The largest payment reported to date is $1,938 to Northwest Media Strategies for matching phone numbers to the petition signatures gathered during the first effort. The firm’s president is Darren Kane, who is also vice president of marketing and accounts for Creative Strategies, which was founded by political consultant Jack Kane.
...
Jack Kane served as an adviser to Mannix during his unsuccessful campaigns for Oregon governor, attorney general and Congress.

Gordly, who before she got involved in this campaign was one of Portland's most respected former state senators, seems to have stopped returning the Mercury's phone calls on this subject. Nevertheless we have another call in to her today, to see if she wants to change her stance on Mannix's involvement, or disassociate herself with what is evidently becoming an increasingly homophobic, right-wing-backed campaign. Gordly herself was a founder of Portland's African American chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), so her involvement with Mannix on this issue is puzzling. Updated with reactions from Mannix and his allies after the jump.

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