Significant campaign contributions from real estate firms and political action committees have helped boost Mayor Julie Hoy’s six-figure bid for reelection. That’s according to campaign finance data from the Oregon Secretary of State’s website analyzed by Salem Reporter. The numbers show her opponent, Councilor Vanessa Nordyke, has raised substantially less money, with individual and small donors making up a larger share. Hoy’s campaign had taken in about $191,000 to Nordyke’s nearly $77,000 in total contributions as of Thursday, May 7. That includes both cash and in-kind donations.  While Hoy’s resources dwarf Nordyke’s, Hoy had cleared significantly more money by this time during her 2024 election bid.  Hoy, Nordyke, four city councilors seeking reelection and their four challengers are less than two weeks away from a pivotal May 19 election which will determine who controls the Salem City Council. Though the races are nonpartisan, candidates are competing in slates based on political ideology. Conservative candidates backed by the Marion Polk First Political Action Committee have generally raised significantly more than their progressive opponents.  The Ward 6 race is an outlier, because Councilor Mai Vang was elected in a special election last year. Her fundraising total for 2025 and 2026 includes both campaigns, though opponent Betsy Vega has significantly outraised her in 2026. Marion Polk First PAC is one of Hoy’s top donors and is also a major donor to the three conservative challengers in the council race, Manny Martinez, Chris Cummings, and Betsy Vega. The group accounts for over 70% of Vega’s fundraising total, and a majority of Martinez and Cummings’. More than three fourths of Nordyke’s coffers, or about 85%, come from miscellaneous small donations and individual contributions.  “I would say that a pretty big portion of Vanessa Nordyke’s fundraising strategy has been to have house parties, so a lot of her contributions are like $50 to $100 from people that she is meeting face to face,” Nordyke’s campaign manager Paige Barton said.  Nordyke told Salem Reporter she has knocked on thousands of doors in Salem.  “To me, the big difference between my opponent and I isn’t just the campaign donations, but how we think we can earn votes. To me, the way you earn a vote is meeting with a voter where they are,” Nordyke said. “I’ve knocked 7,000 doors. I don’t know if Julie has walked 7,000 steps on the campaign trail.”  “Grassroots support matters because it most authentically represents our community. You can’t buy what I’ve earned, and I am not for sale,” Nordyke added. Hoy told Salem Reporter in an email that it is a misconception to believe that she does not represent all of her constituents because half of her campaign contributions came from businesses, real estate companies, and political action committees.  “Anyone who knows me or has spent time with me as mayor knows I’m constantly out in the community, talking with residents, visiting neighborhoods, meeting with business owners, listening to concerns, and hearing directly from people about what’s working and what isn’t. I don’t ask whether someone voted for me, donated to me, or agrees with me before I listen to them,” Hoy wrote. “I’m proud to have support from people across Salem, including members of the business community who want a safer, stronger, more financially stable city. But I serve as mayor for everyone.”  “My job is to represent the entire community and make decisions based on what’s best for Salem as a whole, not any one group or special interest. That’s how I’ve approached this role from day one, and it’s how I’ll continue to lead,” Hoy added.  In 2024 Hoy, along with Salem City Councilor Deanna Gwyn, was censured by her colleagues for failing to recuse herself in a land use appeal vote that benefited one of her campaign donors.  After the fallout from the vote, Hoy said publicly that she believes democracy does not work if contributing to a political campaign means forfeiting representation from one’s local elected officials.  “The people have showed up, contributed to each of our campaigns, have voted for us to sit in these seats, and the reasonable ones expect us to take the votes presented to us,” Hoy said. “Because of this I will do what I was elected to do by the voters of Ward 6, which is to cast a vote to the best of my ability.” She told Salem Reporter at the time that she would do the same thing again regardless of whether the vote benefited a major donor or a “minority business owner downtown.” Significant campaign expenses for both mayoral candidates including paying campaign managers or consultants, printing and mailing costs, and in some cases venues or food for events.   Nordyke’s top expenditures include Eagle Mailing Service, a local commercial printing company, and Barton, her campaign manager.  Hoy’s largest spending by far was for PNW Strategies, a political consulting firm owned by the mayor’s campaign strategist, Betsy Schultz.   One of Hoy’s top expenditures is Geppetto’s Italian Restaurant, which she owns.  Managing Editor Rachel Alexander contributed data analysis. Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected].  SIGN UP: “Thank you for your fair, thorough, and fearless reporting.” Subscribing to Salem Reporter helps sustain in-depth, local reporting that Salem depends on. Invest in your community’s news. Subscribe today. The post Salem city races are expensive. Here’s who’s writing the checks. appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less