Salem voters chose two Republicans for city council on Tuesday: incumbent Hunter Holliday III, who won a second term, and newcomer Jonathan D. “J.D.” Taylor, based on unofficial results, with some ballots still to be counted.
All precincts had reported shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday in the five-way race. Holliday, the lone incumbent in the race, received about 27% of the vote, followed by Taylor with about 22%.
Independent Jeffrey Hoeflich-Nickels trailed Taylor by just 190 votes Tuesday night. Election officials had not counted provisional or other post-election ballots yet.
Holliday took office in 2023 as Salem’s first Republican council member in nearly 30 years (candidates had run as independents without party affiliation). Taylor also ran as a Republican in this year’s race, while the other three candidates ran as independents.
Holliday, a Salem native, served 36 years in the U.S. Army. He is president of Veterans Events Management Inc.
During his first term on city council, he held monthly “Coffee with Council” meetings to hear residents’ concerns. His priorities have included updating infrastructure in Salem as well as building hotels to accommodate the people traveling to sporting events in Virginia’s Championship City.
Holliday has taken a measured approach to data center development. He told Cardinal News in October that he lived in Fairfax during a period of rapid data center expansion. He said data centers could bring benefits to localities, including job growth.
Holliday could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Taylor joined Holliday at his election watch party Tuesday night, he said during a phone interview. During the day, he stood outside of the Salem Civic Center, handing out campaign stickers and talking to voters. He said he was surprised by the number of people who said they planned to vote for him.
“I didn’t think I was going to perform as well as I did,” Taylor said. “It was so humbling and just incredible.”
Taylor is a pastor and works as the chief deputy commissioner of revenue for the city of Roanoke. He has lived in Salem for the past decade, working in the banking world, and is now associate director of a local credit union.
The first thing Taylor said he would like to tackle as a council member is a business license incentive program. His campaign has emphasized economic development by attracting new manufacturing businesses to Salem.
Taylor has said he would rather see Salem attract manufacturers that produce components used in data centers than data centers themselves. He believes manufacturing businesses could create more local jobs.
He also said the city needs to continue working through plans for HopeTree Family Services. The proposed development has drawn controversy over city council’s decision to rezone part of the campus from single-family residential to planned unit development, allowing a major mixed-use project.
Other candidates included Hoeflich-Nickels, who led the field in campaign fundraising. He raised over $38,000 — more than the other four combined. About $30,000 came from a personal loan to his campaign and a contribution from a political consulting firm, i77 Strategies, that Hoeflich-Nickels co-owns.
Aaron Spradlin, who also works for i77 Strategies, contributed $5,000 to his campaign.
Hoeflich-Nickels received about 21% of the vote, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
Independent candidate Mark W. Henrickson, who serves on Salem’s Planning Commission and is the president of the Salem Rotary Club, got about 18% of the vote.
And independent A.J. Harpold, who worked in the entertainment industry before recently moving back to Salem, got about 12% of the vote.
