Cameron and Willis widen leads in Marion County commission races after Thursday count (Nov. 6)
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Republican Commissioners Kevin Cameron and Colm Willis widened their leads over Democratic challengers Sara Duncan and Maria Hinojos Pressey in Marion County's unofficial Thursday evening count.
Cameron leads by 1,009 votes and Willis by 765, up from 422 and 181 in Wednesday's update, after about 5,800 more ballots were counted.
The county has now counted 90,351 ballots, or 39.12% of registered voters. The next scheduled results post is by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11.
In Keizer, Daniel Kohler flipped ahead of Colleen Busch in City Council Position 6 by 37 votes, while Maralee Fletchall held a 76-vote lead in Position 4.
SALEM, Ore. - Republican incumbents on the Marion County Board of Commissioners padded their narrow leads in Thursday's unofficial results update, though tens of thousands of ballots remain uncounted.
Commissioner Kevin Cameron had 44,554 votes, or 50.54%, to Democrat Sara Duncan's 43,545, or 49.39%, for Position 1, according to Marion County's unofficial cumulative results run at 6:37 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5. For Position 2, Commissioner Colm Willis had 44,262 votes, or 50.39%, to Democrat Maria Hinojos Pressey's 43,497, or 49.52%.
That widens the margins from Wednesday evening, when Cameron led by 422 votes and Willis by 181, as Willamette News reported. The latest batch added 5,819 ballots to the count. Cameron gained 3,126 votes to Duncan's 2,539, and Willis gained 3,109 to Hinojos Pressey's 2,525, based on a comparison of the county's Wednesday 5:24 p.m. report and Thursday's report.
A Democrat has not won an election for Marion County commissioner since 1976, the Statesman Journal has reported. Salem Reporter has reported that either challenger would be the first Democrat elected to the board since then if she pulled ahead.
Willamette News found no public statement from Cameron, Duncan, Willis or Hinojos Pressey about Thursday's update as of Friday morning.
Still plenty of ballots left
Thursday's report counted 90,351 ballots, or 39.12% of the county's 230,941 registered voters, with all 119 precincts reporting. The county's most recent ballot return report, run at 4:48 p.m. Wednesday, showed 137,520 accepted ballots. That leaves tens of thousands of accepted ballots that were not yet in Thursday's count, plus mailed ballots postmarked by Election Day that can still arrive.
Under the Marion County Clerk's schedule for posting results, the next update is due by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, followed by updates by 5 p.m. on Nov. 18 and Nov. 25, and final results by 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30. The schedule notes that additional updates may be posted when feasible.
Voters whose ballot signatures are challenged have until Nov. 24 to fix them, and the county must certify the election by Nov. 30, according to the Marion County elections page.
Keizer council race flips again
In Keizer, City Council Position 6 flipped for a second time. Daniel Kohler now leads Colleen Busch 4,315 to 4,278, a 37-vote margin, according to Thursday's report. Busch had led by 49 votes in Wednesday's count.
For Keizer Position 4, Maralee Fletchall leads Chelsea Alionar 3,193 to 3,117, a 76-vote margin, with Tammy Kunz at 2,353. Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark has 6,489 votes, or 67.54%, to Amy Ryan Courser's 3,054, or 31.79%.
Other Salem-area races
Democrats kept their leads in the closest local legislative races in Thursday's Marion County count:
House District 21 (north Salem, Keizer): Democrat Michael Welsh 8,784 (53.72%), Republican Rep. Kevin Mannix 7,546 (46.15%).
Senate District 11 (north Salem, Keizer, Woodburn): Democrat Virginia Stapleton 15,440 (54.58%), Republican Tracy Cramer 12,789 (45.21%).
House District 20 (West Salem portion in Marion County): Democratic Rep. Paul Evans 3,945 (59.73%), Republican Andrew Fudge 2,510 (38.00%). Polk County has not posted a newer update than its Nov. 4 summary.
In the governor's race, Republican Christine Drazan led in Marion County with 45,392 votes, or 50.57%, to Gov. Tina Kotek's 42,051, or 46.85%. Kotek won a second term statewide. Statewide results are at results.oregonvotes.gov.
Sources
Marion County Clerk: Cumulative Results Report, Gubernatorial General Election, unofficial (run 6:37 p.m. Nov. 5, 2026)
Marion County Clerk: Cumulative Results Report, unofficial (run 5:24 p.m. Nov. 4, 2026)
Marion County Clerk: Real Time Ballot Return Report BP-015 (4:48 p.m. Nov. 4, 2026)
Marion County Clerk: Schedule for Posting Election Results
Marion County Clerk: November 3, 2026 Gubernatorial General Election (dates and results)
Salem Reporter: Democrats lead in both Marion County Commissioner races, margins remain narrow (Nov. 4, 2026)
Statesman Journal: Kevin Cameron, Sara Duncan vie for Marion County Commissioner (Nov. 3, 2026)
Cover photo: Marion County Courthouse, Salem, by Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
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