County officials in Oregon have certified the final results for two Salem City Council races that have remained too close to call since election night on May 19. In one race, Marion County officials have declared Betsy Vega winner in Ward 6, representing northeast Salem, against incumbent Mai Vang. However, unresolved allegations that Vega was not qualified because she did not continuously live in the ward she seeks to represent still linger.
Ward 6 and Ward 8 Races
The Ward 8 race for West Salem, between incumbent Micki Varney and challenger Chris Cummings, will have its May ballots hand-counted to be verified ahead of a likely runoff in November. City election officials are reviewing the allegations about Vega’s residency, which come from Vang’s campaign manager.
Marion County election officials have declared Vega the winner in the race for Ward 6, certifying the election results released earlier this month. Marion County Clerk Bill Burgess told Salem Reporter the final vote count in that race was Vang with 1,403 votes, and Vega with 1,447 votes.
Despite Vega’s win, there are still allegations made by Vang’s campaign manager, Paige Barton, who has sought to establish that Vega was not qualified to run for the position. After the May 19 election, Barton quickly circulated allegations to elections officials she said show Vega used an old address when she filed to run for office, and then relied on an expired voter registration when filing a signature petition to qualify as a candidate.
Salem officials said earlier this month that they would take up the allegations after results were formally declared. Now that the election results have been certified, City Recorder Amy Johnson must issue a certificate of nomination to the qualifying candidate and authorize that candidate to appear on the November ballot.
The City Recorder will be reviewing information concerning Betsy Vega’s candidate qualifications and will make a determination after June 22, 2026. If Vega is determined to be eligible to get the nomination, she will be declared the nominee for the Ward 6 council seat. Her name would be the only one to appear on the November ballot.
Should Vega be found ineligible to receive the nomination, Johnson will not issue the nomination certificate. If that happens, Vega would not be able to run in the November election. In that case, Vang would not automatically win the election, but she would have to file to run again in the November election.
Any other Ward 6 resident who has continuously resided in the ward since Nov. 3, 2025 would also be able to file and run against Vang. On the Polk County side, in West Salem, officials will recount ballots cast in the Ward 8 council race between incumbent Micki Varney and challenger Chris Cummings, due to a razor thin margin.
Varney remained ahead in that race by just 5 votes, which triggered the hand count. That is scheduled for June 25 at 9 a.m. in the main conference room at the Polk County courthouse in Dallas, Polk County Clerk Kim Williams told Salem Reporter.
Should the hand count show neither candidate earned more than half the total votes cast, then the two candidates will go on the November general election ballot. The candidate with the most votes in the general election wins.
Original reporting: Salem Reporter — read the source article.
