Accomplishments
For over a decade, Progressive Salem has recruited and supported Progressive candidates who have served with distinction on the Salem City Council. A decade ago the Salem City Council was controlled by conservative business interests who elected candidates to serve their interests and not the public interest. Progressive Salem changed that. Here’s how we did it.
May, 2014: We elected Tom Andersen to Council
Tom Andersen was our “proof of concept.” A handful of Progressives worked to recruit him and elect him before we organized as Progressive Salem. His election proved to us that “organized people can beat organized money” when he defeated two opponents to avoid a runoff in the fall. For two years he was the lone Progressive voice on the Salem City Council.
May, 2016: We elected Cara Kaser, Sally Cook and Matt Ausec to Council
Two years after our first victory we were organized as Progressive Salem and ready to continue to build a Progressive majority on the Salem City Council. All three of our candidates won against well-funded conservative opponents.
March, 2017: We elected Chris Hoy to Council
When racist posts on social media led to the censure and resignation of conservative Councilor Daniel Benjamin we recruited Chris Hoy to run in a special election to fill the seat. He won against four opponents, one with the big-money backing of business interests. We had achieved our goal of a Progressive Council majority!
May, 2018: We reelected Tom Andersen and Chris Hoy to Council
Both candidates won reelection easily, running unopposed, a validation of the work of our Progressive majority on the Council.
May, 2020: We elected Virginia Stapleton, Trevor Phillips and Vanessa Nordyke to Council
With three of the Progressive candidates we elected in 2016 choosing not to run again, we faced a big challenge to replace all three. We did just that to preserve our Progressive majority.
May, 2022: We elected Chris Hoy as Mayor and Linda Nishioka and Micki Varney to Council
2022 was a banner year when we elected our first Progressive mayor in decades. With Tom Andersen moving up to the Legislature we also needed to defend his seat, which we did with Progressive Linda Nishioka who ran unopposed, an indicator of our strength. And we elected Micki Varney on her second try as the first Progressive Councilor for West Salem.
May, 2024: We reelected Vanesa Nordyke and elected Paul Tigan and Irvin Brown to Council
In 2024 business interests went all out to take back the City Council and overturn a decade of Progressive policies. They raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat our Progressive candidates. Their efforts paid off with the defeat of our Progressive Mayor and one of our Progressive Council candidates. But we still were able to reelect Councilor Nordyke, who ran unopposed, and elect Progressives Paul Tigan and Irvin Brown to preserve a slim Council majority. An election in May 2025 will fill the seat vacated by Julie Hoy in her successful run for Mayor — a seat we are determined to win to preserve a strong Progressive majority on the Salem City Council.
How did we do it? Our mantra is “Organized People Beat Organized Money.” Our conservative opposition raises big bucks from special interest groups and then floods voters’ mailboxes with negative postcards. We do it differently. We knock on doors and talk to voters. We make phone calls, and we give Democrats and other Progressives a positive message about our outstanding candidates. Then we get out the vote with more phone calls and door knocking. To do this we need a lot of volunteers. We need you!