Primary election for Eugene mayor: Knudson claims victory with 2 rounds of returns

Kaarin Knudson appeared well on her way to becoming Eugene's next mayor late Tuesday as election officials reported the initial vote totals for the city's primary election.

The latest vote totals showed Knudson with 74.4% of the vote as of the last batch of numbers, which was released just after 11 p.m. Shanaé Joyce-Stringer was in second place with 15.9%, followed by Stefan Strek's 8.8%.

Knudson claimed victory Tuesday night.

"I am so delighted and humbled and honored to be the next mayor of Eugene," she said at a Democratic Party of Lane County watch party. "It has been such a pleasure to get to know people in every council ward in this community over the past nine months … and to now be thinking about how it is that we are going to be working together on doing some really important things."

Joyce-Stringer and Strek both conceded Wednesday, thanking their supporters and saying they would continue to advocate.

"I learned so much and met so many people during this journey, I feel even the more connected to community!" Joyce-Stringer wrote on Facebook. "We will achieve more!" Accountability! Transparency! Equity!"

"It means a lot to have thousands of people agree I can do the job," Strek told the Register-Guard. "I really do hope that Kesey Square gets the protection it deserves going forward."

More votes were still to be counted, although it was unlikely they would change the outcome. The third round of returns counted 82,467 ballots county-wide, for about a 30% turnout. The last Lane County May election in a presidential year had about 47% turnout. Lane County announced plans to post the next round of results after Wednesday.

The three-way race had raised questions about whether a clear winner would emerge after the primary. With the pending retirement of two-term Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis, there was no incumbent in the race.

If one candidate gets 50% plus one vote, they will progress uncontested to the general election. If none won a majority, the top two candidates would progress to a general election runoff.

The winner takes office in January.

Knudson far out-earned the other two candidates in contributions. As of May 17, Knudson had $243,672 in cash and non-financial "in-kind" contributions, Joyce-Stringer had $10,460 and Strek had less than $750.

Eugene's mayor is a stipend position. According to GovSalaries, Vinis received $30,118 in 2023.

Knudson highlighted her urban design background and civic work she said qualifies her for the mayor's role including as a founder of housing advocacy group Better Housing Together, president of Eugene City Club and on the Chamber of Commerce's homelessness coalition.

"What makes me unique as a candidate is that I have been working in this community for over 20 years, and I've helped us to achieve some meaningful results in some of the most challenging issues that we face," Knudson said.

Joyce-Stringer highlighted her K-12 background and civic work that includes grant work for Lane Education Service District and equity-focused work such as with the United Way of Lane County Racial Justice Fund and Eugene Juneteenth Planning Committee.

"My niche here has been connecting people," Joyce-Stringer said. "Connecting people to each other but also connecting people to resources and opportunities."

Strek has primarily promoted himself as someone who's critical of Eugene's current management and wants to change things. He regularly speaks at Eugene City Council meetings and previously attempted a mayoral run in 2016.

"The city's not being taken care of the way it should be," Strek said. "The real issue is mismanagement."

Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached over email at atorres@registerguard.com or on X @alanfryetorres.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Election results: Knudson leads in 2024 Eugene mayoral race