PORTLAND, Ore. (Portland Tribune) — Portland’s mayoral race got its largest public airing to date, and the cheers and jeers show that it is still anyone’s ball game.

Youth climate activist group Sunrise Movement PDX and others hosted incumbent Mayor Ted Wheeler and challengers Sarah Iannarone, Ozzie González, Teressa Raiford and Piper Crowell in front of a sold-out crowd at Revolution Hall in Southeast Portland on Sunday, March 8.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the May 19 primary:

Target on her back:

Wheeler walked into the room knowing he faced four contenders for the crown and a largely hostile audience. After all, Sunrise PDX went so far as to hold a sit-in inside the mayor’s office last year, and the organization has tangled publicly with his comms staff on more than one occasion.

But Iannarone may not have expected to feel the heat from González — who called her version of the Green New Deal “weak sauce” and wondered aloud why she hadn’t mentioned her proposed moratorium on sweeps of homeless camps.

During the debate, Iannarone’s campaign tweeted: “All arrows are focused on the front runner tonight. Nevertheless she persisted.”

Enviro matters:

While Portland’s new limitations on single use plastics went by with almost no mention, plenty of airtime was dedicated to Zenith’s oil terminal in Northwest Portland.

Wheeler highlighted how a bureau under his control rejected a Zenith permit last year, but said the global firm has since submitted new apps and is likely laying groundwork for a lawsuit.

Iannarone said a climate change emergency declaration should have been passed on Wheeler’s first day in office, saying that the mayor has to be dragged along even when he eventually does do what activists want. “We need to be far less risk averse to being sued in the short term,” she said.

González touted his degree in environmental science, and labeled himself a “climate scientist.” He also rebuked Iannarone’s plan to replace Interstate 5 with high speed rail, saying “We’re not ready for that.”

Talk back

There was plenty of booing — and applause — to be heard, albeit from an audience that skewed young.

Wheeler got a taste of the crowd’s disapproval when he said the Oregon Department of Transportation’s I-5 Rose Quarter expansion project didn’t necessarily need to be canceled. His office did push back on the project recently, calling to attention its impacts on the Eastbank Esplanade.

Hecklers suggested that Crowell should be pushing to tax her employer, Nike, which is actually based in Beaverton. The executive, who has lived in the city for less than three years, received her loudest applause of the night when she yielded her time to Raiford.

In turn, the well-known activist shone in the crowd’s appraisal when she vowed never to permit rallies from far right-wingers if elected. “Free speech does not include hate speech,” Raiford said. “We’re not afraid of white supremacists. They’re afraid of us.”