Julie Hoy, left, has served as Salem's mayor since 2024. Hoy is challenged by Vanessa Nordyke, right, a Salem city councilor and lawyer who previously worked for the Oregon Department of Justice.
Courtesy of the candidates
Voters will decide next week on a slate of candidates for elected positions in Salem, including who will earn the top job governing Oregon’s second-largest city.
The mayor’s race is increasingly showing the partisan tensions that frequently highlight politics both nationally and in Salem, which is home to the state’s capital.
Attack ads are hitting residents’ mailboxes, televisions and social media feeds. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash could make it one of Salem’s most expensive elections on record. Progressive backers are painting their opponents as fueled by large campaign spenders, all while conservative-leaning groups say they’re fighting against higher taxes.
The partisan trend concerns some longtime leaders.
“It’s gotten worse since I was on council,” said TJ Sullivan, a former councilor and the president of the Salem Main Street Association. He added: “The thing about partisan politics is they never work in reality.”
Salem’s election this year is widely viewed as a contest between progressive candidates and conservatives backed by real estate and business groups. The positions are nonpartisan and unpaid. Democrats hold an overall registered voter advantage in the city, but much of the electorate is nonaffiliated.
Four of the eight city council positions are up for grabs, but the most high-profile contest is the race for mayor. Incumbent Julie Hoy, a restaurant owner who won in 2024 in a campaign against tax increases, is facing a challenge from Vanessa Nordyke, a city councilor and lawyer who previously worked for the Oregon Department of Justice.
Financially, Hoy leads the race, with nearly $200,000 in total campaign contributions, according to the Oregon Secretary of State. In a statement to OPB, she said, “This election is critical because Salem is at an important turning point.”
“We’ve made meaningful progress stabilizing the city, improving safety, and restoring focus on core services, but there is still a great deal of work ahead and I don’t believe now is the time to lose momentum,” Hoy said.
Hoy’s supporters say the city has made strides toward tackling its biggest issues during her tenure, such as homelessness and public safety. Among those supporters is Marion+Polk First, a major donor and political group that supports “center-right candidates and causes,” according to its website.
David Kilada, a political consultant and spokesperson for the political action committee, described Hoy as a fiscally responsible leader who has helped Salem balance its budget. He says she’s the moderate voice Salem needs.
“She’s going in there to try to find a common sense majority amongst, frankly, progressive-leaning city councils,” said Kilada, an Idaho resident who previously lived in Salem. “She has to work with people of all sides and is willing to do it.”
Hoy’s opponents, meanwhile, are criticizing her for being backed largely by business and real estate firms, though she has so far raised less money than during her 2024 campaign. One anti-Hoy mailer, distributed by Progressive Salem, which supports progressive candidates, even showed her next to President Trump, saying: “Like Trump, she’s backed by the wealthy.”
“I govern with transparency and independence from donor influence,” Nordyke said in a statement to OPB. “People donate to my campaign because they trust I’ll do the right thing and I’ve worked hard to earn that trust, including knocking 7,000 doors personally.”
In her statement, Nordyke slammed Hoy, saying she “doesn’t attend most debates. She doesn’t like to give interviews or comments to the press. When she does speak publicly, it’s from a script, at events organized by her own supporters.”
“That’s a choice, and it tells you something about how she’s governed,” Nordyke said.
Nordyke’s opponents view her as too progressive and accuse her of using her platform to aim for higher office. While Hoy didn’t attack Nordyke in her statement, the mayor said: “I believe leadership means listening to everyone, whether they voted for you or not, and making decisions based on what is best for the broader community, not political ideology or special interests.”
Nordyke’s supporters describe her as a dedicated public servant who is passionate about helping the city’s underserved people, including with affordable housing projects. She has touted her efforts to launch a mobile crisis team with civilians responding to mental health calls, rather than police.
Tina Calos, a board member of Progressive Salem, praised Nordyke for her relentless efforts to hear the needs of voters, either in person or online. She says she hopes the race will benefit from the blue wave Democrats are anticipating ahead of the November general election.
“I think she has a better pulse of what the actual voters are thinking and wanting just because she’s knocking on doors and talking to literally thousands of people,” Calos said of Nordyke.
Salem voters will decide next week what direction the city should go.
