MERCER, PA. Teen-age mayor to discuss movies on Oscar telecast

The Mercer mayor will be sharing television time with the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev and Donald Trump.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
MERCER, Pa. -- Christopher Portman, the teen-ager who was elected mayor of this northwestern Pennsylvania town in November, is finding out quickly what a little political clout means in Hollywood.
Portman, 19, will appear in the opening of ABC's Academy Awards telecast at 8 tonight.
He and several slightly bigger celebrities -- Mikhail Gorbachev, Al Sharpton, Walter Cronkite and Donald Trump -- will appear on the telecast's videotaped opening segment, each talking about his favorite movie.
Radical Media, a New York production company, arranged for Portman to tape his spot in the Big Apple last week.
Portman, who hopes to one day run for Congress and president, discusses "Air Force One," the Harrison Ford thriller.
Election: Portman, who attends Westminster College, was selected as mayor last May when he was an 18-year-old senior at Mercer High School and won the Republican Primary. He beat out a 55-year-old former councilman and a 19-year-old Youngstown State University freshman.
No Democrats appeared on the ballot and Portman was elected last fall and sworn in January.
The teen said he plans to create a Mercer Revitalization Foundation to raise funds for borough improvements. He also plans to push recycling and seek more grants.
He is a broadcast communications major at Westminster.