Sam Adams
Sam Adams was elected mayor of Portland in 2008, succeeding Tom Potter, with 58 percent of the vote against businessman Sho Dozono. At the time, Adams was the first openly gay man elected mayor of a major U.S. city.
Before serving as mayor, Adams worked as a Portland city commissioner and as the chief of staff to former mayor Vera Katz.
Almost immediately after taking office as mayor, in January 2009, an investigation by Nigel Jaquiss of Willamette Week prompted Adams to confess that he had lied to the public and his aides about his sexual relationship with a male intern for Rep. Kim Thatcher. Though Adams and the intern eventually had sex, Adams claimed that before the intern's 18th birthday, the two had merely kissed. In June 2009, state Attorney General John Kroger said there was "no credible evidence" that Adams had broken any laws in the relationship.
As of 2009, Adams lives in the Kenton neighborhood of North Portland.