Yikes: 49-Year-Old Stripper Running for Portland Mayor

A 49-year-old stripper who performs under the name “Viva Las Vegas” is running for mayor in Portland, Oregon.

The middle-aged exotic dancer, whose real name is Liv Osthus, has no experience in governance but takes her clothes off for cash at a strip club called Mary’s in Portland.

When asked by Willamette Week what she would say to older Portlanders who might balk at electing a stripper mayor, Osthus said she would invite them to watch her strip.

“If the stripper thing is so damning, they could watch my TED Talk, or read the book, or watch the movie,” Osthus said. “Strippers are amazingly strong, graceful human beings inside and out. I would invite them into Mary’s to let me change their minds.”

Osthus also claims that her 27 years of stripping prepared her for politics by giving her experience listening and connecting to people.

Asked, “What managerial experience can you point to?” Osthus replied, “I have none, and the team I’m pulling together will be the people who guide me on that.”

Willamette Week notes, “She’s well known in the Portland arts world as an outspoken sex workers’ advocate as well as a published author, writer and musician. After graduating from Williams College in 1997, she moved to Portland to pursue her music career, and soon after began stripping. She’s been dancing ever since, often on the stage at Mary’s Club.”

Osthus is running against three of the five sitting city commissioners.