As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Mai Vang is leading the Salem City Council race for Ward 6 representing northeast Salem by 35 votes, preliminary election results from the Marion County Clerk’s Office showed.

So far, Vang has received 191 votes in the low-turnout race. Deanna Garcia has earned 156 votes, while Logan Lor has received 84, according to the preliminary results.

A second ballot drop is expected between 9 p.m. and midnight. 

The race for the council seat was an expensive one with Vang, a progressive Salem attorney facing off against conservative-backed Garcia, an analyst for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Both received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations. 

Lor, a correctional officer who is also a registered Democrat, cast himself as the race’s independent candidate and was not endorsed by either of the two political parties. 

Lor also received only a fraction of the financial support the other two candidates received.

A win for Vang would widen the council’s progressive majority. She would join the council with the perspective of a renter, which she said offers representation for many residents in her ward.

Vang said her involvement with her neighborhood association motivated her to seek public office. She said her top priority is making housing more affordable for other renters in her ward.

Garcia said her primary concern is public safety and said that means more than putting more cops on the streets of northeast Salem. She also said mitigating homelessness in the northeast part of time is critical and she hopes to join the Mid-Willamette Valley Homelessness Alliance to advocate for more resources for her ward.

The Ward 6 seat was vacated by Mayor Julie Hoy who spent two years representing northeast Salem before she beat incumbent former Mayor Chris Hoy in last November’s election. The two Hoy’s are unrelated. That election also brought three new city councilors into the fold. 

Paul Tigan and Irvin Brown, both considered progressives, joined their politically like-minded colleagues councilors Micki Varney, Vanessa Nordyke, and Council President Linda Nishoka. 

Shane Matthews, a Salem Realtor, also won election in November taking over former Salem City Councilor Trevor Phillips’ seat representing Ward 3. Matthews joins a more conservative block with councilors Deanna Gwyn and Mayor Hoy. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, Garcia had received nearly $60,000 in campaign funds, much of that money coming from a statewide political action committee representing Realtors. Another sizable chunk coming from the conservative Marion Polk First PAC. 

Vang, as of Tuesday afternoon, had about $32,000 in her campaign coffers, the majority of it coming from the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, Progressive Salem, and Frank Taussig. 

Lor had received $1,000 from the Corrections Political Action Committee, Oregon Secretary of State campaign finance data showed. 

Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.

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