Mid-Valley voters decide nominees in legislative races
This story will continue to be updated as more results come in. Because ballots could be mailed on Election Day starting this year, elections officials caution the winners may not be known for several days. Election offices expect vote counts after Tuesday to rise more than in past years due to valid ballots arriving at counting locations up to seven days after the election.
Results in the primary races for the state Legislature continued to roll in Wednesday.
Registered Republicans and Democrats made their choices for state House and state Senate. The primaries set the stage for November's election, which will indicate which direction Marion and Polk county voters want their Legislature to take.
The Mid-Valley is poised for some changes now that district boundaries have been redrawn after the U.S. Census. And several local longtime state lawmakers, including Senate President Peter Courtney, are stepping down.
The area also is home to one of the state's few competitive House districts, the 21st.
You can find more information on the 2022 primary here.
House District 17
This district includes parts of east and South Salem, Turner, Aumsville, Stayton, Sublimity, Mill City and Detroit along with vast swaths of unincorporated Marion County and northeast Linn County.
There is no Republican incumbent for the seat and no Democrat filed to run.
Republicans Beth Jones and Ed Diehl, both relative political unknowns, ran and Diehl appeared to have a strong lead against Jones, according to early returns.
Aumsville Mayor Derek Clevenger has said he will run for the seat as a non-affiliated candidate, but can’t register to run until after the primary.
Read more about the two Republican candidates here.
House District 19
Republican T.J. Sullivan, who co-owns an insurance company and is a former Salem city councilor, ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.
Tom Andersen, a lawyer and Salem city councilor, appeared to have a slight lead against Brad Witt, a fellow Democrat who currently represents a district on the Oregon Coast.
Witt has switched districts and is being bankrolled by a political action committee promoting moderate Democrats.
Witt also was investigated for texts he sent to a fellow lawmaker last year, which an investigator concluded made the other lawmaker feel "offended, uncomfortable, shaken and anxious as a result" but said Witt did not intend to harass her.
Andersen had promoted his council record of fighting climate change and creating more affordable housing in Salem.
Salem City Councilor Jackie Leung was also on the ballot, but in April suspended her campaign for health reasons.
You can read more about the race between Democrats here.
House District 21
In the Republican contest, Kevin Mannix, a Salem lawyer who served in the Legislature decades ago and who was behind Oregon's mandatory minimum sentencing law, appeared to have a strong lead against Kyler McNaught, a newcomer.
In the Democratic race, mechanic Ramiro "RJ" Navarro, who serves on the board of Cherriots, appeared to be ahead of Robert Husseman, a financial analyst.
You can read more about the race here.
House District 22
For the seat vacated by State Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon and her campaign for Congress, the Republican race was between cybersecurity analyst Jim Lowder and former dental assistant Tracy Cramer. Cramer appeared to be ahead of Lowder.
Woodburn School District Chair Anthony Medina was the sole Democrat on the ballot for the seat.
Learn more about Tracy Cramer and Jim Lowder.
House District 23
This redrawn district includes parts of Polk and Yamhill counties.
On the Democratic side, Newberg Planning Commission chair Kriss Wright appeared to be ahead of Newberg City Councilor Elise Yarnell Hollamon.
The winner will challenge incumbent Republican Rep. Anna Scharf in November.
Scharf was appointed to the seat last July after Rep. Mike Nearman was expelled from the House of Representatives for his role in allowing violent protesters into the state Capitol in December 2020.
This will be Scharf's first campaign to hold the seat. She did not have a primary opponent.
Read more about the Democratic candidates here.
Senate District 11
For decades, Courtney has represented the Salem area in the Oregon Legislature, first in the House and then in the Senate. He's been the Senate's top lawmaker, the Senate president, since 2003.
Sen. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, squared off against small business owner Marcello De Cicco in the Republican primary. Thatcher had a strong lead against De Cicco.
Woodburn Mayor Eric Swenson appeared to be ahead of the other Democrats running for that party's nomination. Swenson competed against Anthony Rosilez, executive director of the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, and Richard Walsh, a former Keizer city councilor.
Read more about the Democratic and Republican candidates here.
Claire Withycombe covers state government for the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at 503-910-3821 or cwithycombe@statesmanjournal.com.
Tracy Loew, Dianne Lugo, Bill Poehler and Connor Radnovich contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Election results: Oregon votes on nominees in House, Senate primaries
