Keith Wilson is at the top of the preliminary voting results for Portland mayor

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Trucking company CEO Keith Wilson is leading the Portland mayoral race in preliminary election results, according to unofficial results released by Multnomah County on Tuesday evening.

In a single-winner selection contest, such as this race, tabulation rounds are conducted in which the candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated. Votes from eliminated candidates are transferred to the voter's next preference. Rounds continue until a candidate receives 50% +1.

Nearly 20 people ran for the mayor's seat this year, and for the first time, Portland voters were able to rank their top six candidates based on their preference.

With the votes released Tuesday evening, Multnomah County conducted 19 rounds of voting until Wilson emerged with 63% of the vote. City Commissioner Carmen Rubio had 37%.

After the first vote counts were released showing him leading, Wilson said at his campaign party at Old Town Brewing on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard that his campaign was hopeful he would win.

“This is all a new process for us, but the lead appears to be big and we are confident in the efforts we are making. We hope it lasts,” he said.

Earlier, as Wilson campaigned in the streets with his supporters carrying signs, he said he had a good chance of winning the race. If he wins, he will get to work after a break.

“We have already drawn up a timetable for tomorrow. We already know what we are going to do in the first days, so we will not wait, we will celebrate in a very muted way because it is difficult. “The work is ahead of us,” he said.

Wilson has worked to address the homeless problem and get people off the streets quickly.

In addition to being the CEO, he is also the founder of the nonprofit organization Shelter Portland.

Rubio also spoke to reporters before the preliminary results were released. She said she doesn't know how she would fare in the election results, but she feels good and is hopeful because people want to see Portland improve.

She said it was important for different voices to be heard.

“Working people’s voices, women’s voices, people of color voices, Black and Indigenous voices, we need trans voices, everyone. We need to be just as inclusive — because this is the Portland of today,” she said outside the Sports Bra in Northeast Portland, where her campaign and supporters had gathered.

Another mayoral candidate, City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez, expressed similar optimism Tuesday before the voting deadline, saying his campaign had hit the road hard in the final weeks of the race.

During the campaign, he portrayed himself as a law-and-order candidate and said he would enforce the city's camping ban.

“Since I entered the public eye, I have been the standard-bearer for public safety and quality of life,” he said at his campaign party in Kells in downtown Portland. “That means creating a place where families can thrive, where older people can age in place, where developers and entrepreneurs can thrive in the city.”

After the initial election results were released, Gonzalez said he wanted to see more results in subsequent releases, particularly from East Portland, which largely fits into the newly created City Council District 1. Voters approved the creation of four city council districts in a previous election and the changes will take effect next year.

“We are behind, but you know, there are still a lot of votes left in District 1. We were concerned about this because we saw that the early results in District 1 were very slow. We heard a lot about it locally.” “ESL voters were confused by the ranking,” he said. “I hope this will make up some ground not only for my election but also for our democracy. It's really important that we haven't just pushed out a whole section of the city that seems intimidated by ranked-choice voting.”

KATU political analyst Jim Moore said there is a path to victory for Gonzalez, especially when voters in District 1 cast their ballots on Tuesday.

But Moore said things were looking good for Wilson as his lead grew from the first round of the standings until the 19th round.

It's important to note that Wilson is not the winner, at least not yet. Remember that these are preliminary results. All votes must be processed and counted before a true winner can be determined.

Every time Multnomah County releases another set of voting results, all of the tabulations in that race are done so you can see who is in the lead. Check this out.

The next scheduled release of the county's ranked-choice voting results is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m

Multnomah County's release of election results included votes from three counties – Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington. While most of Portland lies within the borders of Multnomah County, there are also portions of it in Clackamas and Washington counties.

Official confirmation of the results will take place on December 2nd.

KATU reporters Victor Park, Barry Mangold and Tanvi Varma contributed.