In a recent social media video, Angelita Morillo, a progressive candidate for Portland’s City Council, delivered a sharp critique of mayoral candidate Rene Gonzalez. This came in response to questions about how she would collaborate with Gonzalez if both were elected.
“I don’t know what everyone else is hearing, but when I’m on the ground, talking to my people, they’re not asking me how I’m going to move towards an unjust man or unjust policies,” Morillo stated.
While Morillo acknowledged that compromise is inherent to the role, she described her primary responsibility as advocating for vulnerable and working-class residents.
“It is not my role in this life or in this race, to comfort the comfortable,” she asserted.
Morillo specifically criticized Gonzalez’s tenure on the city council, claiming he has neither built strong relationships nor passed significant policies.
“He does not have any friends. He has not passed any substantial policies or made any accomplishments. His greatest accomplishments are the things that he has tried to dismantle and destroy,” she argued.
Morillo also highlighted that mayoral candidate Carmen Rubio has endorsed her campaign. Several other council candidates showed their support by liking her video, including District 1 candidate Candace Avalos, who has publicly clashed with Gonzalez on multiple occasions.
“I’ve gotten to know Angelita over the last year, and she’s smart, passionate, and nuanced. Like she says, the work of actually moving a policy agenda requires collaboration, and Rene Gonzalez is the epitome of the opposite. District 3 would be lucky to have Angelita representing them,” Avalos wrote.
Other candidates who liked the video included mayoral candidate Liv Osthus, Timur Ender (D1), Kelly Janes (D3), and Mitch Green (D3).
