Newcomer Jordan Tibbals overtook Jason Padden for the fourth seat on the Canby City Council late Thursday, as results have continued to trickle in from the Clackamas County Elections Office this week.
When the first returns came out on Election Night, Padden — a former city councilor and horticultural sales rep — held a modest 250-vote lead over the Marine veteran Tibbals, 3,022 to 2,776.
Since then, however, the race has steadily tightened. As of 5 p.m. Friday, Tibbals had taken a commanding lead, 4,321 to 4,201.
Other movement came further up the ballot as well, as incumbent Sarah Spoon, the top vote-getter in early returns, had ceded her spot to fellow incumbent Traci Hensley. On Friday, Hensley had collected 4,894 votes; Spoon, 4,730.
In third was Canby High School government and history teacher Chris Bangs, who maintained the third pole position with 4,443 votes.
James Hieb, who had been in sixth place all week but had gained ground nearly as fast as Tibbals, had actually moved into fifth place by Friday, albeit by the slimmest of margins, with 4,210 — nine more than Padden.
According to Clackamas County Elections Office, Friday’s count will be the last one until next week. The 5,000 or so ballots that remain uncounted were ones that were either rejected by the machine and will need to be duplicated, or have signature issues awaiting resolution.
Under Oregon law, voters have until Nov. 17 to resolve signature issues and still have their ballots counted in the final total.
Hensley, who has served on the council since 2011, was a founding member of the Canby Suicide Prevention Task Force and also a volunteer for the American Legion Auxiliary and Operation Snuggle.
Spoon is principal broker for a local real estate firm she owns and is seeking a second term on the council. She was the leading vote-getter the first time she ran for council in 2016.
Tibbals is a Marine veteran who works in trading grains and commodities, and who has been involved or helped organize several pro-police events in Canby this summer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Oregon State University.
Padden is a broker sales representative for McHutchison Horticultural Distributors, and previously served on the Canby City Council from 2009 to 2011, before stepping down due to work commitments (he had a different job at the time, which required frequent travel).
He has also served on and chaired the Canby Budget Committee, as well as the Canby Urban Renewal Board and a street maintenance task force.
Hieb is the director of the Building Blocks Early Learning Center in Wilsonville, and has served as the elected precinct committee person for voter precinct 124 (North Canby) in House District 39 and treasurer for the Young Republicans of Oregon. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007.
As expected, incumbent Mayor Brian Hodson has won a fifth term in office, with 5,919 ballots cast as of Thursday. The former one-term city councilor was unopposed and has not drawn a challenger since he first won the position from incumbent Randy Carson in 2012.
