Sam Adams

Samuel Francis Adams (born September 3, 1963) is an American politician in Portland, Oregon.

Adams graduated from high school in 1982, then started at the University of Oregon in 1984.

Adams began his career in politics as a staffer on Peter DeFazio's 1986 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Oregon's 4th district.

He dropped out of the University of Oregon to work on Peter DeFazio's successful bid for Congress.

After DeFazio won, Adams worked as a communications and policy assistant in his Oregon office, and on his re-election campaigns until 1988.

Adams also worked for Democratic Majority Leaders David Dix and Carl Hosticka.

In 1988, Adams was elected chair of the Lane County (Oregon) Democratic Party.

In 1990, Adams worked as the Oregon director for the highway safety organization Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH).

He next worked on Vera Katz's 1992 mayoral campaign in Portland and served as her chief of staff 11 years.

Adams did not graduate from college until 2002, when he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oregon in political science.

In a 2004 election for a seat on the Portland City Council, Adams received fewer votes than candidate Nick Fish in the primary election, but Adams won the general election.

As city commissioner, ran the Portland Bureau of Transportation and the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services.

He also served as Portland City Council's liaison to the Arts and Culture and Small Business communities.

In 2005, Adams met Beau Breedlove, a 17-year-old interning for Oregon State Representative Kim Thatcher.

As part of managing the Bureau of Transportation, he inherited the responsibility to oversee the development of the Portland Aerial Tram, which opened to the public in January 2007.

Adams and his staff maintained a blog highlighting their activities in the community, especially pertaining to Adams' priorities such as arts and culture, livability and environment, and transportation.

In October 2007, Adams announced his intentions to run for Mayor of Portland.

His main opponent was Sho Dozono, a civic leader and businessman.

In September 2007, Adams denied rumors of a sexual relationship between the two, saying of Breedlove, "He was looking for a mentor. I tried to be both prudent and useful to him."

In the primary election, held May 20, 2008, Adams won 58 percent of the vote and was elected without the need for a run-off.

Dozono received 34 percent of the vote.

Adams was mayor of Portland from 2009 to 2012 and previously served on the Portland City Council.

Adams was the first openly gay mayor of a large U.S. city.

Adams took office on January 1, 2009, becoming the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city.

Adams said his top three priorities were creating more family-wage jobs, reducing the high school dropout rate, and making Portland more sustainable.

In his first State of the City address on February 27, 2009, Adams outlined his goal of making Portland "the most sustainable city in the world."

Adams emphasized reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and investment in efficient green energy as essential to the city's energy-environmental goals and called on the Oregon State Legislature to provide incentives for the expansion of green energy companies, notably Vestas Wind Systems, into the Portland metropolitan area.

In January 2009, after being confronted with a story in Willamette Week, Adams admitted to having a sexual relationship with Breedlove.

Breedlove confirmed Adams' accounts.

Adams apologized, saying he had lied to avoid accusations of grooming a minor and the likely disruption such allegations would cause in his mayoral campaign.

Adams announced his intention to remain in office.

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger initiated a criminal investigation in January 2009.

By June, Kroger's office announced that no charges would be filed and that there was "no credible evidence" of inappropriate sexual contact before the age of consent.

Before Kroger's findings were made public, several newspapers called for Adams' resignation.

Adams ran an unsuccessful campaign to rejoin city council in 2020.

From 2020 to 2023, he served as director of strategic innovations for the office of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.

Adams resigned in January 2023, claiming he was leaving because of health problems, but Wheeler later asserted he had pushed Adams out for bullying female employees.

Samuel Adams was born in Butte, Montana to parents Larry and Karalie Adams.

Adams was the third of four children.

When he was a year old, his family moved to Richland, Washington, but shortly after moved to Newport, Oregon.