You don’t know where Mitch Green stands

A nonendorsement

Mitch Green generated so many bad headlines this summer one can be forgiven for not keeping track of them all. But the thing that most disqualifies him for elected office did not make the news.

He appears to have outlived the spotlight surrounding the 10,000 tweets he posted in 2020-21 in which he called all cops bastards, fantasized about an officer’s demise and outlined a political outlook reminiscent of Karl Marx: “I only view electoral politics as a means of wielding power and not an end in itself. The end, of course, is socialism.”

The damning document I’m talking about was not dashed off in the passion of the George Floyd summer, nor was it couched in “spicy” language, which was Green’s characterization of hate he expressed toward classes of people.

Green opened his veins and pledged his full loyalty to the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America in seeking their endorsement of his candidacy for re-election to Portland City Council. His answers to 60 questions met muster and the endorsement was granted.

DSA is no ordinary political party; in fact, it is not an official political party at all, which is convenient for Green because his City Council oath of office forbids party affiliation.

DSA is an allegiance far deeper than mere political parties, which score candidates on alignment with party goals but do not control their behavior in office.

It is instructive to consider that Green, as a member of DSA since 2019, former treasurer of its Portland chapter and winner of a DSA endorsement in 2024, should have been a shoo-in for another endorsement. Instead he had to provide 13 pages of written answers digging deeper into his role as an elected official than any political party would imagine doing.

If you hold office with other DSA-endorsed candidates, will you pledge to form a Socialist Caucus with them?

“Yes.”

If elected, how would you view your role in relation to Portland DSA?

“I will plan to regularly attend SIOC [Socialists in Office Committee] meetings, and as [many general meetings] as I can handle, to ensure that there remains a close connection between my office and the chapter.”

Have you read the DSA National Platform? Do you agree with the DSA National platform? Should you be elected, will you fight for the demands in the platform?

“Yes. Yes. Yes.”

The DSA National Platform includes “Demilitarize police departments, disempower police unions and redirect funding to public services as steps toward fully abolishing the police and prison system, which protects the rich and jails the poor.”

A Portland DSA chapter further calls for action to “disrupt the capitalist municipal order.”

Portland chapter co-chair Olivia Katbi said, “Our councilors are DSA. So what they are doing is DSA until further notice, unless we say it’s not.”

Green told the NW Examiner last April that his relationship with DSA was no different than that of other interest groups that endorse or lobby elected officials. That was not true, though I had no knowledge then of the pledges he had made in private.

The DSA does not represent the majority of Portland voters, and their positions would fail a fair test at the ballot box. But they operate under a unique charter requiring only 25% support to gain power. With their extreme discipline and leaders like Green, who can sound fair and reasonable when the cameras are running, they have gained extraordinary leverage over our city.

Mitch Green is not who he claims to be.

In the April interview, I asked Green if the majority of voters hated his positions, but 25% are on board, would you consider yourself successful?

“I ran for this seat because I said I was fighting for very specific values,” he replied. “I think I’d be a failure to abandon those values.”

Green indeed fights for very specific values. But only those inside his bubble know the specifics.