---
title: 'Portland’s next mayor: A tale of the social network tape'
date: '2011-11-16T14:11:01-08:00'
type: post
word_count: 471
char_count: 3290
tokens: 613
categories:
  - '#featured'
  - Oregon
  - Portland
  - Startups
tags:
  - 'charlie hales'
  - 'eileen brady'
  - 'jefferson smith'
  - Mayor
  - Portland
---

# Portland’s next mayor: A tale of the social network tape

So the Portland mayoral race is starting to move into the next phase, with the candidates coming off of [the first formal debate](http://blog.oregonlive.com/portlandcityhall/2011/11/portland_mayoral_candidates_sq.html "Portland mayoral candidates square off in first public forum"), this week.

Having candidates debating always leads me to wonder… How are those conversations happening online? And what sort of sway do [Eileen Brady](http://www.eileenformayor.com/ "Eileen Brady"), [Charlie Hales](http://www.charliehales.com "Charlie Hales"), and [Jefferson Smith](http://www.jeffersonsmith.com/ "Jefferson Smith") hold in terms of social networks?

It’s a fair question. Given that [Portland Mayor Sam Adams has amassed an impressive Twitter following](https://twitter.com/mayorsamadams "Portland Mayor Sam Adams")—upwards of 43,000 followers as of this post—and he uses his social media presence for everything from debating Occupy Portland to responding to pothole reports.

So how do the current candidates line up in the online world? Let’s take a look.

### [Eileen Brady](http://www.eileenformayor.com/ "Eileen Brady")

- Twitter: @EileenBrady has 641 followers
- Facebook: [Eileen’s Facebook fan page](http://www.facebook.com/eileenformayor "Eileen Brady for Mayor") has 1537 likes
- [Twitalyzer](http://twitalyzer.com/profile.asp?u=eileenbrady&elapsed=8&tc=4&em=&rl=19 "Twitalyzer for EileenBrady"): 62
- [Klout](http://klout.com/#/user/EileenBrady "Klout for EileenBrady"): 37

### [Charlie Hales](http://www.charliehales.com "Charlie Hales")

- Twitter: @HalesforMayor has 189 followers
- Facebook: [Charlie’s Facebook fan page](http://www.facebook.com/CharlieHalesforMayor "Charlie Hales for Mayor") has 481 likes
- [Twitalyzer](http://twitalyzer.com/profile.asp?u=halesformayor&elapsed=5&tc=4&em=&rl=2 "Twitalyzer for HalesforMayor"): 23
- [Klout](http://klout.com/#/user/HalesforMayor "Klout for HalesforMayor"): 23

### [Jefferson Smith](http://www.jeffersonsmith.com/ "Jefferson Smith")

- Twitter: @jeffersondsmith has **1398 followers**
- Facebook: [Jefferson’s Facebook fan page](http://www.facebook.com/forwardwithjeffersonsmith "Forward with Jefferson Smith") has **2201 likes**
- [Twitalyzer](http://twitalyzer.com/profile.asp?u=jeffersondsmith&elapsed=8&tc=4&em=&rl=17 "Twitalyzer for jeffersondsmith"): 62
- [Klout](http://klout.com/#/user/jeffersondsmith "Klout for jeffersondsmith"): **41**

So, in terms of online presence, Jefferson has the early lead.

I’ll work to keep an eye on these metrics as the race goes on. It could be a leading indicator. Or it could be fluff. But it’s worth watching. Especially as the campaigns begin to ramp up.

And maybe we can get the candidates to chat with us on [Meet the Startup](http://www.meetthestartup.com/ "Meet the Startup")—[like Sam Adams did](http://siliconflorist.com/2011/06/21/meet-the-startup-conversation-portland-mayor-sam-adams-part-1/ "Meet the Startup: Sam Adams")—so we can get more insight into their views on the Portland startup scene than just social media metrics.

I mean, every political campaign is a startup, right?

*([Image courtesy Derrick Coetzee](http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcoetzee/3606622500/). Used under Creative Commons.)*