District 2 Commissioner candidate · Multnomah County · November 3, 2026
Nabil Zaghloul
County social and economic services program director.
Reach the campaign
- electnabil.com (opens in a new tab)
- info@electnabil.com
- (503) 828-6075
- Instagram (opens in a new tab)
- Facebook (opens in a new tab)
As published in their pamphlet statement and campaign site.
In their words
Said: I’ve spent 32 years serving Multnomah County residents on the frontlines.
Pamphlet p. 36
Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; extracted September 21, 2026
Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 36 ↗Verbatim opening of the candidate's own statement; publication by the county does not verify the claims. The heading “A COUNTY THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE” is skipped. The first sentence is under 12 words, but the section label “HOW TO FIX IT:” follows it directly, so a second sentence cannot be added without eliding the label; the excerpt stops at one sentence.
The verbatim opening of their voters’ pamphlet statement, the same rule for every candidate. We chose nothing.
What they say they would do
Our summary of their platform, in our wordsProposes housing-retention tracking and a public county performance report card.
- Publish housing retention at three, six, nine and twelve months.
- Combine housing, treatment and employment for sustained recovery.
- Introduce homelessness-reduction and accountability legislation.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not their wordsHe makes continued stability, not initial placement, the test of success and would tie contracts to it; the program results he cites are his own claims pending independent checks.
Where they stand
Homelessness and housing
Track housing retention- What
- Said: Introduce a Multnomah County Homelessness Reduction Act that puts prevention first, publicly report housing retention at three, six, nine and twelve months for every County-funded program, and expand the county’s master-lease model with landlords.
- How
- Said: Require quarterly retention reporting in every nonprofit contract, expand the Supportive Housing Alliance (the county master-leases blocks of units and chooses the tenants), and fund prevention as a frontline strategy.
- Measured by
- Said: Retention at three, six, nine and twelve months; he cites a prevention program that kept 2,800 households housed with over 90% still housed a year later, and 75 families rehoused last year, all still housed.
Crisis care, jail and deflection
Track reentry, fund youth- What
- Said: Track whether people leaving the justice system actually reintegrate (find work, stay housed, stay out), invest in what Cully residents asked for (cameras, community safety networks, youth programs), and add behavioral-health professionals so police stop responding to mental-health crises.
- How
- Said: Rebuild addiction treatment around 12-to-24-month programs combining housing, treatment and employment, and expand youth programs like the one he says he runs in Cully on redirected funds and volunteers.
- Measured by
- Said: Treatment completion, housing stability and movement toward self-sufficiency measured for every program; reintegration after release tracked as standard.
Taxes and the budget gap
Public report card- What
- Said: Introduce a Multnomah County Accountability and Results Act: a public County Report Card showing what the county spends, what works, what doesn’t and where it must improve, with programs funded by measured outcomes and county wages that keep up with Portland’s cost of living.
- How
- Said: Prioritize and, when the budget permits, expand programs with strong retention rates; require quarterly outcome reporting in every nonprofit contract.
- Measured by
- Not in their sources
Roads, bridges and air
Bridge, fuel-hub safety- What
- Said: Supports finishing the Burnside Bridge with federal, City, Metro and regional money; on the CEI Hub (the riverside fuel-tank hub) wants stronger safety measures, operators insured so taxpayers don’t pay, and emergency plans for nearby neighborhoods; supports a data-center moratorium.
- How
- Not in their sources
- Measured by
- Not in their sources
The choices this office faces
Every candidate in this race is asked the same 13 questions. Nabil Zaghloul is on record on 8, with 5 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.
No answer we could findBack extending Metro's homeless-services tax past 2030 at a lower rate, with tighter spending rules?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Keep and tighten the drug deflection center, or halt it?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Keep the county's sanctuary code and refuse ICE detainers under federal pressure?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Drop the two-paramedic ambulance rule for good?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Move day-to-day county management from the elected chair to an appointed administrator?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Close shelter beds to keep people in housing as homeless-services money falls?
Said: Notes many of the 600 beds being cut were already empty and says the answer for people who refuse shelter is sustained behavioral-health and addiction treatment, not more shelters, with prevention funded first.
Rewrite the city-county homelessness agreement so one government runs shelters?
Said: Says the City and County lack a strategic partnership with shared goals and metrics, and would consolidate overlapping homelessness, behavioral-health and public-safety services; he does not say which government should run shelters.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Tighter contract monitoring and outside audits of the Homeless Services Department after Sunstone Way?
Said: Would require quarterly housing-retention reporting in every nonprofit contract and publish it; he does not address fiscal monitoring, outside audits or the department's leadership after Sunstone Way.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Keep the 2027 Recovery Pathways Center on schedule and fund more detox and treatment beds around it?
Said: Wants multi-year funding for 12-to-24-month programs combining housing, treatment and employment as the standard for people with overlapping needs; he does not mention the 2027 center or detox beds.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Close the county's structural budget gap by cutting administration before services?
Said: Would budget for outcomes instead of history, stop funding long-term obligations with one-time money, and move money to prevention that proves it cuts later costs; he does not say whether to cut administration first.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Keep delaying the Preschool for All tax increase, now set for 2028?
Said: Calls Preschool for All one of the county’s best investments but wants accountability, financial sustainability, better behavioral-health care, and the tax thresholds indexed to inflation so middle-income earners are not pulled in; he did not address the delay.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Up to $101.6 million in county money for the Moda Center renovation?
Said: Not in support of a blank check; with the City, County and state moving ahead, wants jobs, community investment and small-business benefit in return; cites a campaign door-knocking survey he says found 44% of District 2 opposed.
Keep both jails at their current funded capacity as the General Fund shrinks?
Said: Says public safety is underfunded and corrections understaffed, and wants accountability for crimes, youth violence prevention and reentry services; he does not say whether to keep both jails at current capacity.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
A question the evidence leaves open
What data would be independently checked, and how would reports protect client privacy?
Sources (6)
- Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 36Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.
- Zaghloul · campaign homeCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
- Zaghloul · homelessnessCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
- Zaghloul · behavioral healthCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
- Zaghloul · public safetyCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
- City Club of Portland · Multnomah County District 2 debate (September 24, 2026)Candidate statement · September 24, 2026; transcript read September 25, 2026The candidate's own remarks at a public debate, read from a transcript; speaker attribution is the Lab's, from self-references and the moderator's order. Claims are not independently verified.