The Salem-Keizer School Board will have at least three new faces this summer following a May 18 election. Eleven candidates have filed to run for four open seats on the board, and only one current board member is seeking re-election. Friday was the deadline for candidates to file. Though candidates must live in the zone they want to represent, voters in the district have a say in all four races. There’s no primary election, and the candidate who gets the most votes on May 18 wins the seat.
Here are the Salem-Keizer candidates:
Zone 1:
- Osvaldo Avila: Operations and policy analyst for the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, known as HECC.
- Richard Riggs: Regional director for the Oregon State University Extension Service.
- Ross Swartzendruber: Sheep farmer.
- Kari Zohner: Realtor.
Zone 3:
- Ashley Carson-Cottingham: Deputy agency director for the State of Oregon, Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
- Linda Farrington: Retired nurse.
Zone 5:
- Karina Guzmán Ortiz: Early childhood system partner engagement specialist for the Oregon Department of Education.
- Jesse Lippold Peone: Real estate broker.
- Michael Slagle: Aerospace inspection manager and sports official, coach.
Zone 7:
- Liam Collins: Vehicle acquisition manager.
- Maria Hinojos Pressey: Operations director of Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, known as PCUN.
