Filing Deadlines Approach for City Council Races in Gresham, Lake Oswego and West Linn

Voters across several of the region's cities will decide new city councils this November, and the filing window for candidates who want to be on that ballot is closing fast.

In Gresham, the Mayor's seat and City Council positions 2, 4, and 6 are up for election in the November 3, 2026 general election. Incumbents seeking re-election must file by August 18; all other candidates have until August 20. Anyone running must have established residency in Gresham on or before November 3, 2025, to qualify.

Lake Oswego has three open council seats on the ballot this cycle, currently held by Trudy Corrigan, Ali Afghan, and John Wendland, each serving four-year terms. West Linn's council races are on the same November ballot. In both cities, the filing deadline is August 18 for incumbent candidates and August 25 for everyone else — a week later than Gresham's cutoff, since the two fall under different county election offices, Clackamas County versus Multnomah County.

Residents who want to run, rather than just vote, should check with their city's elections office or the county directly for the exact paperwork — nomination petitions, filing fees, and signature requirements vary slightly by city.

For everyone else, the payoff comes November 3, when ballots go out under Oregon's vote-by-mail system and residents decide who represents them at city hall for the next four years. Races like these rarely draw statewide attention, but city councils set the budgets, zoning rules, and local ordinances that shape day-to-day life more directly than almost anything higher on the ballot.

Oregon's voter registration deadline typically falls about three weeks before an election, so residents who want to weigh in on these races — even if they're not running themselves — should confirm their registration is current well before ballots are mailed. Each city's official website and the county elections office are the most reliable places to track confirmed candidates as filings close and the field is finalized.