Voters in the area surrounding the University elected David Kelly in Tuesday’s primary election to represent Ward 3 on the city council.
Kelly defeated his challenger, Maco Stewart, with more than two-thirds of voters supporting the incumbent’s campaign for a second term. Stewart, a University junior, received nearly 29 percent of the vote in an election with an 50.6 percent turnout as of 11:15 p.m.
Stewart conceded to Kelly after 10 p.m., and the two rival candidates shook hands at the Lane Events Center.
Smiling broadly, Kelly later said the election result was an affirmation of his first term in office.
“I believe that the voters in my ward have been pleased with the efforts I’ve made,” he said. “I appreciate the support. It’s been tremendous.”

When the first round of election results showed Kelly leading by a two-to-one margin, Stewart said he would likely lose the election and acknowledged that his insurgent campaign was disadvantaged by Kelly’s high profile as an incumbent.
But Stewart, who said he ran for
office because he felt students were poorly represented on the council, added that he would have fared better if more student-age voters participated in the election.
“If students turned out in larger numbers, I would have won this in a landslide,” he said.
Mayor Jim Torrey agreed, stating that not enough University students vote in Eugene elections.
“It’s unfortunate that the students at the University don’t realize how much voting power they have in this community if they would just exercise it,” he said.
Nonetheless, Torrey said he was pleased with the results of the four city council races, which he said would tip city council votes to favor more vigorous business development in the city.
Torrey said the elections of George Poling to Ward 4, Gary Papé to Ward 5 and Jennifer Solomon to Ward 6 would support pro-business proposals, which were previously stalled at times by more liberal councilors.
Ward 1 Councilor Bonny Bettman, who often joins Kelly and Ward 2 Councilor Betty Taylor to oppose proposals supported by Torrey, said she was happy to see Kelly re-elected.
After early returns indicated that Kelly was winning, Bettman smiled and said, “Amen.”
Ward 3 is bordered to the north by the Willamette River and to the south by East 30th Avenue. The eastern boundary of the ward snakes along East High Street, Willamette Street and Amazon Parkway. Interstate 5 draws the western border of the ward.
The University lies at the heart of the ward, which also includes an area west of campus with a dense population of University students, a region south of campus with an older population and a swath of downtown.