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Many Salem City Council races appear settled, but county commissioner winners are months away, early results show

A stack of counted and signed ballot envelopes at the Marion County Elections Office on Tuesday, May 19. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)

Early election results are in and it appears a slate of candidates considered to be progressive have won election to Salem City Council, an unpaid, nonpartisan position, despite considerable financial investment from conservative groups this election.

Other races will be decided in November when Republican and Democratic challengers face off for county and legislative seats.

The Marion County Elections office released its first round of results at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, but final tallies won’t be complete for a few more weeks.

WARD 1

Virginia Stapleton, a stay-at-home mom, garnered 59% of the vote with 1,951 votes cast Tuesday. This year, Stapleton received $13,418 in campaign contributions and spent $10,868, according to campaign filings with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office.

Jan Kailuweit, an IT manager, received $30,753 in donations and spent $18,481. He got 41% of the vote in the race to represent the ward that includes downtown and a portion of west Salem. 

In Polk County election results, Kailuweit took the lead with 52% of the vote out of 679 ballots cast.

WARD 3

Trevor Phillips, a Salem Health emergency room doctor, had 58% of the vote with 2,719 votes cast Tuesday. Phillips received $17,070 in campaign contributions this year and spent $21,184.

His incumbent challenger Brad Nanke was a latecomer to the race after last year announcing he wouldn’t run again.

Nanke filed to run by the deadline in March and received $35,964 in campaign contributions and spent $20,974.

WARD 5

Hollie Oakes-Miller, a part-time instructor at Portland Community College, appears on the path to a narrow victory to represent north Salem according to preliminary results Tuesday, garnering 50% of the vote. She received $1,506 in campaign contributions and spent $1,019 this year, according to filings with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office.

Jose Gonzalez, a real estate broker, got 49% of the vote with 1,343 votes cast.

Gonzalez received $12,601 in campaign contributions and spent $10,978.

WARD 7

In the costliest city council race in recent history, Vanessa Nordyke won 59% of the vote with 4,356 votes cast according to preliminary results.

Nordyke, a lawyer at the Oregon Department of Justice, received $19,166 in campaign contributions and spent $19,604.

Her opponent, Salem Health finance director Reid Sund, got 40% of the vote.  

Sund received $67,125 in campaign contributions this year and spent $70,512.

MAYOR

Mayor Chuck Bennett won re-election with 65% of the vote according to preliminary results. Bennett received $21, 563 in campaign contributions and spent $18,519.

His opponent, against Brooke Jackson, a controller for a biomass company, got nearly 35% of the vote. She received $440 in contributions and spent nothing according to campaign filings.

Bennett also took the lead in Polk County election results, with 55% of the vote out of 6,320 ballots cast.

MARION COUNTY COMMISSIONER

For the Marion County commissioner seat, Ashley Carson-Cottingham, a state employee in the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, garnered 73% of the vote in the Democratic race for Marion County Commissioner. Her opponent, Dan Norton, got 26% of the vote with 16,848 ballots cast.

Carson Cottingham received $7,595 in campaign contributions and spent $1,154.

Carson-Cottingham will face Danielle Bethell in the general election in November to fill the vacancy left by retiring commissioner Sam Brentano.

Bethell received $18,315 and spent $18,408, according to campaign filings.

POLK COUNTY COMMISSIONER

In Polk County, two commissioner candidates are tied with 40% of the vote. The top two vote-getters in the nonpartisan race will square off in November.

Lyle Mordhorst, who was appointed to the board in January 2019 to fill the remainder of Jennifer Wheeler’s term, received $11,625 in campaign contributions and spent $9,633.

He will run against retired Naval officer Danny Jaffer in the November election for the seat. Jaffer received $3,192 in campaign contributions and spent $833.

Terry Taylor garnered about 19% of the vote. He received $300 in contributions and spent nothing, according to campaign filings.

FIRE LEVY

Preliminary results show 53% of voters turned down a levy that would have helped Marion County Fire District No. 1 to pay for additional firefighters and new equipment in the face of dwindling volunteerism and increasing call loads. The levy would raise $6.7 million over two years.

The fire agency’s previous levy expires next month.

HOUSE DISTRICT 19

Jackie Leung, a current Salem city councilor and interim executive director of the Micronesian Islander Community, won the Democratic nomination for House District 19 with 64% of the vote and 4,131 ballots cast. Leung received $5,460 in campaign contributions and spent $4,087.

Her opponent Sarah Landstrom, an actor and brand ambassador, got 27% of the vote. She received $2,376 and spent $2,200 this year according to campaign filings.

Write-in candidate Chip Davis got 8% of the vote.

Leung will run against Republican Raquel Moore-Green in November to represent the district circling east Salem.

Moore-Green received $41,792 in campaign contributions and spent $25,548, according to campaign filings.

HOUSE DISTRICT 20

For House District 20, which includes west Salem and part of Polk County, retired dentist Selma Pierce received 59% of the vote for the Republican nomination, according to preliminary results. She received $36,428 in campaign contributions and spent $47,368 this year.

Her Republican opponent, Kevin Chambers, a drilling operations manager, got 40% of the vote.

Pierce will face current representative Paul Evans in November. Evans received $37,706 in campaign contributions this year and spent $48.849.

SENATE DISTRICT 10

Deb Patterson, a congregational minister with a background in healthcare advocacy, will run against Denyc Boles in the general election for state senator in District 10 which includes south Salem, west Salem, Independence and Monmouth.

Patterson won the democratic nomination with 91% of the vote according to early results.

She received $70,692 in campaign contributions this year and spent $33,885.

Republican senator Boles received $72,901 and spent $40,651 this year, according to filings with the Secretary of State’s Office. 

Correction: An earlier version misspelled the last name of Patterson’s Republican opponent. She is Denyc Boles, not Boyles.

Have a tip? Contact reporter Saphara Harrell at 503-549-6250, [email protected] or @daisysaphara.