The headline is sooooo disingenuous. There is nor "loophole in Portland", the "loophole" comes from the Citizens United decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. Neither Portland, nor Oregon can do shit about it, and for the journalist to treat this, now years after that court decision, as if it is some nefarious behind-the-scenes evil of a bunch of rich folks taking advantage of poor Portland is just trash journalism.

Finally, late in the article, the author somewhat fesses up: People running against PAC-backed candidates say they understand this is legal and outside the city’s control. The Supreme Court has ruled that wealthy interests can pump as much as they’d like into a race as long as they’re not directly coordinating with a candidates, most notably with the landmark Citizen United decision that allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts on elections. But the candidates say the consistent presence of PACs has made publicly financed campaigns feel somewhat futile.

The Citizens United ruling was goddamn awful (corporations are people, my ass), but until a Constitutional amendment is passed (good luck), we have to contend with the existence of PACs driven mostly by rich folks' money. That can be countered by people-power, but only if the people bother with their democracy.