PORTLAND, Ore. – A candidate for Portland mayor believes he can solve the housing crisis by taxing the city’s millionaires.

David Schor, a 36-year-old Assistant Attorney General for the Oregon Department of Justice, is a dark horse in the race for mayor of Portland.

State treasurer Ted Wheeler is leading the pack of declared candidates. Multnomah County Commissioner Jules Bailey said he will formally declare he’s running after Jan. 1, 2016.

Related: Bailey will reportedly run for mayor

Wheeler announces run for Portland mayor

A handful of other contenders have also filed for candidacy.

But Schor believes his ideas for solving the housing problems plaguing the city set him apart from the competition.

“If we look at where new income has gone, more than half of the increase has gone to the top 1 percent of earners,” he said. “That’s an opportunity for Portland.”

Schor is proposing a local tax of around 8 percent for the city’s millionaires and hopes to get the proposal on a ballot. The tax, he said, would likely be collected in a similar fashion to the current arts tax.

He believes the tax could generate $200 million a year. That’s the same amount local housing advocates say the city needs to solve the current housing problem.

Related: No place to call home: The problem with Section 8

Home demolitions rise along with tensions in Portland

“Right now, the city is adding a small number of affordable units each year,” Schor said. “It’s probably going to max out at around 600 units a year, and that’s not enough to keep up with demand.”

Schor said the millionaire’s tax could fund 10,000 public-owned housing units within the first five years. He also plans to have the buildings managed by tenants in a cooperative housing program.

Schor, who lives in an apartment and has seen his rent increase 50 percent since he moved in eight years ago, said his plan would actually address the state of emergency the city declared this fall.

“The city has been unable to take any action that’s proportionate the emergency they declared,” he said.

The other candidates have also advocated for more affordable housing. Bailey said it’s one of his top priorities. Wheeler told KGW he wants to increase tax-increment financing to pay for housing.

He also took notes at a recent talk by the man credited for “ending homelessness” in Utah. That program funneled Section 8 vouchers to the chronically homeless.

Related: Man who 'ended homelessness' in Utah says Portland can do the same

Schor, who describes himself as a democratic socialist like presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, said he’s raised at least $750 for his campaign, and he hopes like Sanders he can collect small donations from the masses.

Bailey has said he won’t accept contributions over $250, according to an Oregonian report. So far, Ted Wheeler has raised more than $100,000.