Salem’s wealthiest dumped a comparatively enormous amount of money into Mayor Julie Hoy’s campaign in 2024. Hoy, since entering politics as a City Councilor in 2022, has raised nearly $322,000 dollars - mostly from business groups and Salem oligarchs.
Next year, Hoy will face a challenger for her seat - current Salem City Councilor Vanessa Nordyke. Over the next several months, both candidates will use their respective platforms to describe how different they are from each other, and how they expect to lead Salem.
But based on campaign finance data, we already know a whole lot about each candidate without hearing a word from them. Let’s take a look at the data, and then we’ll talk about what it means for the future of Salem.
Historically, here’s who Nordyke and Hoy have relied on to power their political ambitions:
Top 10 Contributors
Vanessa Nordyke (total raised: ~$38,000)
Misc. Small Donors (<$100): $9,308.00
American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME): $5,000.00
Dunn & Roy, PC: $1,718.00
Vanessa Nordyke (self-funding): $1,464.13
UFCW Local 555 (Labor Union): $1,367.70
AFSCME Local 2067: $1,000.00
Nancy Gildersleeve: $1,000.00
Robert E. Nordyke: $1,000.00
Salem Fire PAC (245): $1,000.00
Citizen Action for Political Education: $500.00
Julie Hoy (total raised: ~$322,000)
Oregon Realtors PAC: $80,035.68
PNW Strategies: $25,150.00
Mountain West Investment Corp (Larry Tokarski’s company): $24,104.00
Lawrence Tokarski (personal): $20,000.00
Marion+Polk First PAC: $12,647.59
Jeanne & Richard Schultz (combined): $25,000.00
Misc. Small Donors (<$100): $11,458.00
Commercial Property Resources: $10,000.00
Mid-Valley Affordable Housing Coalition: $7,500.00
Trends, insights into campaign contributions
Hoy has raised approximately 8.5 times the money Nordyke has in their respective political careers. And that’s with Nordyke having about a 2-year head start on Hoy.
The biggest chunk of the Mayor’s cash - about a quarter of Hoy’s campaign contributions ($80,000) - comes from one entity - the Oregon Realtors PAC.
Nordyke’s single biggest source of campaign cash? A quarter of her donations come from sub-$100 small donors. Literally a community powered campaign. The rest of her top 10 is a diverse collection of individuals, small businesses, unions, and small PACs.
Outside of the realtors, Hoy’s rich friends have spent quite a bit on her political future. Former Salem Reporter owner and perpetual cash spigot for right-wing candidates Larry Tokarski has slipped Hoy a cool $45k since she began her political life (less than 3 years ago). Tokarski split his cash between a personal donation and a donation through his company, Mountain West Investment Corp. Hoy’s grassroots support, as measured by individual donations under $100, is more of a small patch of fading lawn - just 3.5% of her total funding.
Would you like another visual to demonstrate the gargantuan contrast between how Hoy and Nordyke fuel their campaigns?
If Vanessa Nordyke’s campaign finance contributions were the Oregon State Capitol building, Julie Hoy’s would be the Empire State building.
Julie Hoy has raised around 8.5 times the money Vanessa Nordyke raised in their respective political careers. Did you know the Empire State Building is almost exactly 8.5 times the height of the Oregon State Capitol building? I didn’t. Not until I asked ChatGPT, anyway.
Ok, ok…so what do we do with this information?
Well, if I were a normal, run-of-the-mill Salem resident faced with picking between these two candidates - it’s early, there could be other candidates - I’d probably wonder who relates more to my particular position in life.
The person whose entire political career is staked by wealthy oligarchs who coordinate their spending to elect increasingly rightwing politicians that will favor local business over everything else?
Or…
Would you relate more to the person who has built their political career on small-dollar donations from community members and groups made up of working class community members who seek elected officials that will address the whole community - and not just the rich folks.
**If anyone gives a shit, I do use AI-powered tools to produce this newsletter. Mostly ChatGPT. It helps in compiling and analyzing data; researching dense background material; and keeping my thoughts and ideas organized and well-structured. Also to create custom images, although I try to use Canva when I can. Guys, these tools save so much time and are probably the only way I can find the time to write. I understand that many folks have many issues with AI, so I thought I should be transparent about my use.