Incumbent Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle enjoys a performance while talking with attendees at her election night party at the Fire Union Hall in Vancouver, Wash., on Nov. 4, 2025.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Anne McEnerny-Ogle won a third term as mayor of Vancouver on Tuesday night, beating her opponent Justin Forsman by a wide margin.
“Our work obviously isn’t done,” McEnerny-Ogle said to a crowd of supporters at the Vancouver Local 452 Fire Hall after early election results came in.
“We’ll build that I-5 bridge, we’ll build the Heights, we’ll continue working with our homeless,” she said, calling out a number of local livability issues before telling the crowd to be sure to take home extra baked potatoes.
McEnerny-Ogle has long been a face in Vancouver politics. After a 30-year career as a public school teacher, she was elected as a city councilor in 2014. She became the first woman to serve as mayor of Vancouver in 2018. Now 72 years old, her term as mayor will last through 2029.
Priorities for her next term will include development of a mixed-use neighborhood in Central Vancouver known as the Heights District, helping expand police staffing with levies like Proposition 5, which also appeared to be passing on Tuesday night, and starting construction on the Interstate Bridge Replacement, a slow-moving megaproject that has been further delayed by the federal government shutdown.
“I’m the strongest advocate for the bridge because it’s right in our living room for the city of Vancouver,” she said.
Her last eight years as mayor were defined by a period of tremendous change in Washington state’s second fastest growing city. That growth has led to problems, like a persistent housing shortage and growing homelessness.
McEnerny-Ogle served as mayor throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. “Every day I came to work,” she said.
As mayor, she is often found holding together fractious coalitions in Southwest Washington. She’s heavily involved with Oregon and Washington state officials, the board of the local transit agency, C-TRAN, and the two states’ congressional delegations on matters related to the I-5 bridge.
At the local level, McEnerny-Ogle contributes to the relationship between Vancouver and Clark County’s smaller cities’ response to a regional homelessness crisis.
Her opponent, Justin Forsman, earned nearly 30% of the vote as of 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Forsman runs a small telecom business in Vancouver. His defeat in the mayoral race adds to a series of failed bids for Vancouver City Council and the Washington state Legislature. In campaign statements, Forsman said he is an advocate against the herbicide glyphosate, 5G cellular towers and water fluoridation. His platform included a range of conservative interests, such as rejecting sanctuary city policies, enhanced 2nd Amendment protections, and what he described as medical freedom.
Voters approve Proposition 5
Voters in Vancouver appeared to be approving Proposition 5, based on early results in Tuesday’s general election. It will fund approximately 13 new officers in the Vancouver Police Department. The tax levy’s passage would mark a small step forward in the city’s effort to shore up police staffing levels.
Proposition 5 will increase taxes by $0.15 per $1,000 of assessed value on property in Vancouver. That translates to an increase of about $75 annually on a $500,000 home, according to the city.
The 13 new officers funded by the levy amount to fewer new hires than in past funding proposals. A similar 2024 levy aimed to hire 80 new police officers and 36 non-officer positions. That levy’s failure led to the scaled-back request this year.
Vancouver ranks low when it comes to officers per capita compared to other Washington cities of comparable size. Vancouver had 11.4 officers per 10,000 people, according to 2024 FBI data. Other cities with populations of 90,000 or more include Tacoma, with 15.31 officers, and Everett, with 17.79 officers per 10,000 people.
The city is also planning to hire additional officers with state funding for law enforcement approved during the last legislative session. According to City Manager Lon Pluckhahn, Vancouver is expecting to hire another dozen officers beyond the levy with a share of $100 million allocated for police departments around the state by the legislature and Gov. Bob Ferguson.
Additional officers hired with Proposition 5 funds would be fully trained in early 2027, according to VPD spokesperson Kim Kapp.
