Nothing on your calendar tomorrow night? Even if there is, you should cross it off and write in this (and for you folks vying for Sia tix, I bet you can hit these events back to back).

John Branam, candidate for city council, is throwing a party at Holocene to start the 90 day countdown to the primary election. It’s 21+ but free, with DJ Dave Allen, Copacrescent, the Retrofits, and Jim Brunberg. And Portland Center Stage’s Chris Coleman is going to interview Branam on stage. Check out the flyer for Countdown: 90 here.

In other election news, the Branam campaign hosted a bowling party for everyone running in that race—Amanda Fritz, Charles Lewis, Chris Smith, and Jeff Bissonnette (and presumably Mike Fahey, the phantom candidate). Fritz and Lewis report that they didn’t attend, and no word on who did. If I obtain photos of candidates in bowling shoes, you’ll be the first to see ‘em.

Speaking of Charles Lewis, he’s the subject of what looks like a nasty campaign smear—one that roped in the IRS. In an official IRS form that landed on my desk last week, an anonymous person alleged that Lewis “has expolited [sic] the work of Ethos Music Center, a non-profit organization which he founded and directs, for the promotion of his bid for elected office.” The supposed evidence? A November 2007 fundraiser “benefitting [sic] both Ethos and his election campaign,” which the complainant alleges violates rules against non-profits participating in political candidates’ campaigns.

I was at that fundraiser—and blogged about it, here—which was put on by Amplified Techniques & Hip-hop Collective, not Ethos. I had questions at the time about how it would financially benefit Lewis’ campaign, as he was collecting $5 public financing contributions at the time, and you can’t give something away—like admission to an event—in exchange. So I went to see it for myself, and was the only reporter there, as far as I could tell. What I found? A hip-hop group’s annual fundraiser, which happened to benefit Ethos, and a few volunteers standing outside the venue, soliciting $5 contributions for Lewis. In other words, Ethos had nothing to do with the campaign—the organization was the beneficiary of a cool dance collective’s benefit, and the campaign found a great spot to stand to gather signatures.

Lewis reports that someone made a similar complaint to the Auditor’s office last fall, and the auditor “said there was no merit whatsoever.”

He adds, to make it crystal clear: “Ethos and my campaign are two totally separate organizations. The charges made via anonymous letter are absolutely baseless.”

The IRS hasn’t returned my Friday call, seeking further information about how such complaints are processed.

And finally, mayoral campaign-land is abuzz with a poll—two, now. Not only did Sho Dozono’s reporting of a $27K poll late last Friday open a whole new can of worms (or two or three, related to things like late reporting, in-kind caps, and contributing in someone else’s name; more on that tomorrow, once government offices are open again to answer this reporter’s questions), but a new poll from the Adams campaign is getting panties in a bunch over at the Tribune. The poll, from Adams’ camp, reportedly tests negatives about both Adams and Dozono, though one person the Tribune spoke to felt the questions explained Adams’ issues, but not Dozono’s. Does that make it a push poll? One thing I’ve learned while reporting on the Dozono megapoll—it depends on how many people are polled. The Adams campaign is saying only a few hundred are being called on this poll, to test messaging. A push poll would require a helluva lot more calls to deliver a push.