PORTLAND - Three of Oregon's largest population centers and a number of the state's smaller cities will get new mayors after Nov. 2, in campaigns that have been brutal in some cases, and low-key in others.

Ken Strobeck, the executive director of the League of Oregon Cities, said there is no single unifying theme in mayoral races, which tend to live or die by local issues - wastewater or garbage collection, property taxes or potholes.

The highest profile race has been in Portland, where Mayor Vera Katz is stepping down after a 12-year term. City Council member Jim Francesconi looked to be the heir apparent, but was bogged down by a primary campaign during which opponents painted him as beholden to special interests and the metro area's business community, thanks to his vigorous fund-raising.

Since then, former Portland Police Chief Tom Potter has surged to a comfortable - perhaps insurmountable - lead in the polls, buoyed by his refusal to take donations in excess of $25 in the primary and his grass-roots image.

"One of the first things I heard was that the person who raises the most money wins," Potter said, reflecting back on his decision to run for mayor. "But I recognized that in Portland, there were enough people who believed that change was necessary. And I did not feel comfortable asking for large amounts of money. I didn't want to be indebted, and, with so much need in our community, I couldn't justify spending large amounts to make myself look pretty."

Francesconi says he regrets raising so much money, but that he's sorry more time wasn't devoted to topics like how to lure more jobs to the city, maintain school quality and how to provide services without always turning to tax requests.

"Campaign financing was the public perception of the race, not what we are going to do to fix the city," he said. "I just wish that discussion had been different during the primary."

Meanwhile, in Eugene, voters made the decision about a new mayor back in the May primary, when Kitty Piercy won more than 50 percent of the vote, after spending a record $122,000. Hers is the only name that will appear on the ballot in November's general election.

Even that race has not been without dissenters: a group of citizens had been encouraging outgoing mayor Jim Torrey, a moderate Republican, to run as a write-in candidate, because of concerns about the left-leaning makeup of the city council under Piercy.

Torrey publicly weighed his options, speculating that he could have raised $250,000 for his write-in before ultimately deciding not to run, saying he did not want a bitter campaign to divide Eugene. His decision was greeted with a nearly audible sigh of relief by Piercy.

By contrast, the mayoral contest in Medford has been far less heated, with neither candidate raising more than $10,000 by Oct. 8, according to The Mail Tribune in Medford.

The candidates are real estate broker Bob Strosser and optometrist Gary Wheeler, who have both identified the economy and transportation as key priorities; coincidentally, Wheeler is Strosser's optometrist.

In Pendleton, the contest between city council members Phil Houk and Gary Tague has generated plenty of letters to the editor, with the two candidates running neck-and-neck in fund-raising.

The race in West Linn has also been tinged with bitterness, with challenger Norm King charging that incumbent David Dodds has stifled rapid development in the fast-growing Portland suburb, and been responsible for turnover in the police department; Dodds has long been a staunch advocate for controlled growth.

And in Grants Pass, newcomer Tim Burleson has mounted a challenge to incumbent Len Holzinger, complete with a weblog that has charted the ups and downs of his campaign.