Halloween may be over in Portland, Oregon's biggest city, but the horror story unfolding on its streets is far from finished.
The disturbing sights continue days later, with homeless people clustered on the sidewalks, slumped over in doorways and screaming incoherently while wandering into the middle of busy city streets.
Yet, despite the worsening crisis and mounting anger over her handling of the issue, the state's Democratic Governor Tina Kotek has won another four years in office.
Kotek, 60, defeated Republican challenger Christine Drazan, 54, in Tuesday's election, surviving a race that had threatened to end Democrats' decades-long grip on the governor's mansion.
Portland – and Oregon's – homeless population has increased by 35 percent over the past four years, despite executive orders signed by Kotek telling cities to prioritize reducing vagrancy and providing buckets of cash to do it with.
Anger over the issue turned what should have been a slam-dunk for the Democrats in a reliably blue state into a neck-and-neck re-election fight for Kotek, 60, who was elected to tackle the issue but is widely seen to have failed.
'I feel like Tina Kotek hasn't done much,' Annie T.S., an 18-year-old first-time voter, told the Daily Mail.
'Oregon has been plummeting from what I've been seeing, and it is such a beautiful state, so I'm really hoping that whoever takes charge really has a love for the state.'
She added: 'Oregon has failed a bunch of people. And instead of people coming together, it feels like there's so much more hatred.
Oregon's homeless population has surged by 35 percent over the past four years, despite Democratic Governor Tina Kotek's promises to tackle the crisis and millions of dollars in public funding directed toward the problem
Vagrants resting against buildings in downtown Portland have become a common, troubling sight
The worsening crisis emerged as a major issue in Oregon's gubernatorial election
'I hate seeing homelessness on the street because it breaks my heart – they were somebody's babies once.'
The Portland native was planning to vote for Kotek's Republican rival, Christine Drazan, 54, who ran on a pledge to finally deal with the homeless encampments that blight the streets and defy signs ordering people not to pitch tents on the sidewalks.
Oregonians haven't elected a Republican governor since 1982 and reliably vote Democrat in every presidential election, with Kamala Harris taking the state by 14.3 percent in 2024.
But polls showed Kotek and Drazan in a dead heat in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's election and, in the end, Kotek squeaked by with 51.7 percent of the vote – besting Drazan by just six points.
Kotek is also viewed unfavorably by 60 percent of voters, according to polls, which puts her almost on a par with President Trump among Oregonians.
'Tina Kotek told Oregonians that she would solve the problems and challenges facing our state,' Drazan said during a debate at the start of October. 'She hasn't.'
Kotek wasn't the only West Coast Democrat facing negative headwinds over the homelessness crisis, which has become a feature in political fights from California to Washington State.
As of Wednesday morning, votes for the Los Angeles mayor's race were still being counted, with incumbent Karen Bass, a Democrat, falling behind Democratic Socialist challenger Nithya Raman. Bass has faced voter fury over that city's rising homelessness crisis - after she was elected in 2022 on a promise to reduce it – and her handling of the devastating 2025 wildfires.
Despite the growing crisis and mounting criticism, Kotek managed to secure re-election Tuesday night
Republican challenger Christine Drazan had seized on public anger over homelessness, accusing Kotek of failing to deliver on the promises that got her elected
Back in Oregon, Drazan had taken advantage by covering the state with billboards featuring a sinister-looking photo of Kotek and the message: 'Is this working?'
For local security guard, who only gave his first name Riley – who happily admits that the hundreds of drug addicts plaguing downtown Portland has kept him in work – the answer was no.
He said that, while he dislikes Kotek, he wasn't totally sold on Drazan either.
'On a day to day, the fact we have a huge homeless problem is a wild scenario, but it does keep me in a job,' he told the Daily Mail, adding that security and the threat posed by homeless addicts would be a key factor in how he voted.
'Tina Kotek hasn't done a whole lot for a long time,' he told the Daily Mail. 'Like, I appreciate that she's trying. I think.
'But most of the people I've talked to in the past think that she's just messing things up. It's just goofy.
'I don't like Drazan either, though, so that's a problem. It's like it's always lesser of two evils type thing.'
The Daily Mail witnesses dozens of homeless people on the streets, where most sidewalks reek of urine, while feces can be seen in corners
A homeless person smokes as they shelter alongside buildings and beneath blankets on cots or makeshift beds
These days, drug addicts can be seen in virtually every doorway and have become more circumspect about smoking drugs openly
But he does worry about the safety of his wife, saying: 'Every time she leaves the house, she gets followed and harassed and we have a three-year-old kid.
'Now, she's not willing to do it anymore unless I'm around. It's a massive problem.'
Not everyone faults Kotek for her handling of the homeless problem – including the homeless themselves, whose main beef is the order she signed in September 2024 that re-criminalized hard-drug use.
Oregon ran a brief and controversial experiment between 2021 and 2024 that downgraded possession of hard drugs to a misdemeanor – an experiment that saw open drug use on the streets explode.
'Oh, I hate Tina Kotek,' huffed one vagrant outside Helen's Market in Portland's Chinatown, a hotspot for the homeless.
'I trusted her and then she immediately overturned the ballot measure. We had a ballot measure that legalized all drugs, and she just overturned it. It was working and she didn't give it long enough.'
As a result, while drug addicts can be seen in virtually every doorway, they have become more circumspect about smoking drugs openly – turning their backs to the street as they do it or hiding in alleyways.
Despite that, the infamous fentanyl fold – where users double over at the waist, their head facing the ground – can be seen all over the city and families are forced to walk past aggressive addicts screaming, 'What are you looking at, n****?'
Oregon's controversial experiment with drug decriminalization ended in 2024 after lawmakers reversed key provisions of the measure
The homelessness crisis continues to blight this Pacific Northwest City and has been a major concern for voters
Many sidewalks reek of urine, with rivulets snaking unavoidably along the concrete while feces can be seen in corners.
The result is widespread fury with Kotek, whose odds in Oregon pre-election were steadily downgraded from 'Solid Democrat' to 'Likely Democrat' and, finally, 'Lean Democrat' by the non-partisan Cook Political Report.
At Helen's Market, employee Josh, 49, was manning the counter and told the Daily Mail he was wearily resigned to no real improvements, no matter who won the governor's race.
'I'm still bored, I'm still young, and, I mean, not young. I'm bored of the way I'm still broke and one day I'll die, and after generation or two, nobody will remember me,' he said.
'It's all the same f**king bulls**t, honestly.'
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