Jo Ann A. Hardesty (formerly Bowman,[2][3] born October 15, 1957) is an American Democratic politician in the U.S. state of Oregon who served as a Portland City commissioner from 2019 to 2022.

In 2021, Portland Police Bureau's internal investigation concluded their officers leaked a false accusation that she was responsible for a hit and run in an act of retaliation.

Hardesty faced several controversies during her tenure in office, such as her handling of personal credit card debt, vacation time, and placing a call to 9-1-1 over a dispute with a Lyft driver.

Hardesty stood for the November 2022 election runoff to serve a second term, but lost the seat to challenger Rene Gonzalez.

[4] She graduated from Edmondson-Westside High School and earned an Associate of Arts degree in business and accounting from the Baltimore City Community College.

She was elected to the Oregon House in 1994, holding office until 2001, when she resigned to unsuccessfully run for chair of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners.

The call-in show addresses racial disparity, government accountability, environmental justice and politics on local, state and national levels.

[15] During the race, Hardesty called her top two running-mates "idiots" for their suggestion the unused Wapato Corrections Facility be utilized to house homeless residents.

Hardesty won the race, against Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith; the final tally showed her receiving 61.8% of the votes cast.

[29] Oregon Public Broadcasting reported over a dozen "union and left-leaning advocacy groups" had endorsed Hardesty as of April 2022, as well as U.S.

Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer, both from Oregon, and Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt.

[35] While the election results had not been officially certified, The Oregonian announced Gonzalez had won by early November 9, saying he had "soundly defeated" Hardesty.

[45] Additionally, as a result of an internal affairs investigation, two of the officers involved received formal disciplinary action, and the former union president was fired by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.