It was obvious immediately—Sho Dozono’s staff and supporters assembled in his 4th floor campaign office, above Azumano Travel on SW Stark, were too happy to be there to watch him drop out of the race.

Indeed, Dozono’s staying in. He had little to add to that, saying that he may still do a parallel track of appealing last week’s decision that stripped him of public financing (the appeal is written, but any decision would likely come far too late to be meaningful to Dozono’s campaign), and that he’ll likely limit funding in some way—but we won’t know details of that until tomorrow. He says he’s received pledges of several thousands of dollars, but may limit contributions to $500, as Sam Adams is doing.

“I don’t think of quitting as an option,” Dozono said. Because ballots start going out in little over a month, Dozono says he’ll be running a “very disciplined, very focused campaign.”

On how he’ll finance his campaign, he says he’s “no longer hamstrung by what I believe is the worthy cause of public financing,” but adds that he can “only hope to stay within those boundaries if possible.”

He also notes that he doesn’t believe the judge’s decision last week “was not about whether I’m qualified or not qualified,” and he says he still believes “I cam certified and qualified” as a publicly financed candidate. In other words, he thinks the judge was wrong and the auditor was right.

Listen to Dozono’s press conference here. And check back in this afternoon—Adams is responding to his announcement shortly before 2 pm.

His campaign’s official statement and the text of the appeal is after the cut in its entirety.

"For all the people who want a different direction in City Hall, who are working for me or some other candidate or cause they believe in, I say, quitting is not an option. I am announcing today that I will continue my campaign for Mayor of the City of Portland. I intend to run a vigorous and competitive campaign to end the same old politics that protect City Hall insiders and the status quo", said Dozono.

"This is about a City Hall insider, who thinks he is entitled to the Mayor's job -- using every political maneuver possible to eliminate his only competition. Commissioner Adams championed a flawed system that Sho tried to make work and he receive specific instructions from the Auditor...only to have Sam Adams spend $10,000 to over rule the Auditor's decision. If Commissioner Adams gets his way, the system will be forever rigged to protect the incumbent and the status quo. Sam Adams' legal challenge was never done to protect the system; it was done for his own self-interest. Commissioner Adams has a hard time distinguishing what is in the public's best interest and his old-style inside City Hall manipulation of the Voter-Owned Elections process is the wrong politics for Portland and demonstrates, yet again, why Sam Adams is the wrong candidate to lead our city", said campaign manager Amie Abbott.

"Now let's get serious about what Commissioner Adams calls the need to protect the integrity of the system, reinforcing the values of transparency and fairness. During the course of his administration, while planning to run for Mayor, Sam Adams conducted polls, created an in-house campaign staff, created an independent, city operated website and sent mailings to Portland households. Sam Adams was promoting a plan that would be a cornerstone of his candidacy for Mayor...a 400 million dollar transportation TAX on
Portland homeowners and businesses. The worst part about that was he did it all with tax payer monies, converting the Bureau of Transportation into his own self-promotion machine and campaign slush fund", said Abbott.

Abbott stated further, "In the name of integrity, fairness and transparency, I challenge Commissioner Adams to release the real budget and expenditures for this campaign he conducted at the public's expense. Ask the hard working city employees; about the commissioner's behavior. With the true numbers out in the open, the public will be able to distinguish between what Sam Adams did that was good for them from what was good for Sam Adams...he can have his day in court on May 20."

"I look forward to the campaign ahead...there is a lot to talk about when it comes to bringing about the kind of change that makes the future better for all Portlanders.and in determining which candidate for Mayor is best able to bring a new perspective on leadership that harnesses the energies of all our citizens to do what is best for Portland", said Dozono.

The appeal (click on 'em to make them a bit bigger, but you should also bust out the reading glasses). Given how much Adams spent on the initial appeal, however, Dozono campaign manager Amie Abbott says it's unlikely Dozono will file this appeal—since Adams will likely fight it all the way, she says (Adams, speaking moments ago at his campaign HQ, said he hoped not to spend any more on legal fees):