Stayton City Councilor Steve Sims has narrowly secured an election victory over challenger Luke Bauer following the certification of results from the Nov. 5 election.
On Dec. 2, the Marion County Clerk’s Office published official results placing Sims in second place with 26.70% of the vote and Bauer in third place with 26.47% of the vote.
First place went to local business owner Ken Carey with 27.5% percent, meaning Sims and Carey will be sworn into the two open seats on the council in January.
In fourth place was challenger Gary Frank with 18.35% of the vote.
This year’s council race was tight from the beginning, without clear winners during the first week after election night. As Carey emerged as a front-runner, the race for second remained too close to call between Sims and Bauer even by late November.
According to the official results, the candidates were separated by just 12 votes, with 1,375 for Sims and 1,363 for Bauer.
Bauer potentially stood to gain a seat on the council even in third place as the council was planning to appoint Sims as mayor following the unexpected resignation in September of Mayor Brian Quigley. If appointed, Sims’ seat would become vacant and the council made plans Nov. 18 to offer the position to Bauer given the broad support he received from voters.
On Dec. 2, Quigley informed the council he had recovered from a related health scare faster than expected and was open to returning to his former position. On Dec. 16 the council unanimously appointed Quigley to serve the remainder of his original term.
