A Korean adoptee mayor has made history in Oregon City as both the youngest and the first Asian-American to hold the office.
The historic figure is 26-year-old progressive politician Adam Mal, who was born in Korea and adopted into the United States.
According to the Clackamas County Elections Division on November 10, Mal secured a landslide victory in the November 3 mayoral election with 70.49 percent of the vote, totaling 10,797 votes. He defeated runner-up and former City Councilor Damon Mabee, who captured 15.65 percent, by a margin of roughly 55 percentage points.
Mal was adopted shortly after his birth in South Korea. Raised by an electrician father and a nurse mother, he majored in political science and communication at Willamette University.
His political journey began drawing widespread attention in 2020 at the age of 20, when he successfully led a recall effort against then-Mayor Dan Holladay over controversies surrounding the downplaying of police misconduct and the flouting of COVID-19 safety guidelines.
Leveraging this momentum, Mal was unanimously appointed to the city council the following year to fill a vacancy left when former City Councilor Rachel Riley Smith was elected mayor. Recognized at the time as Oregon’s youngest local government official, he officially won election to the council in 2022.
His interest in public service sparked early in life, inspired by a middle school social studies class on government roles. He entered public service as a state legislative intern in 2019, later working as a legislative aide, policy analyst, and housing and land use policy coordinator for the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development while serving on the Oregon City Council.
Reflecting on his victory, Mal stated that he did not run to capture titles like youngest or first Asian-American, but solely to serve his community and get to work.
His core platform focuses on improving housing affordability, curbing property tax increases, enhancing road and sidewalk maintenance, and strengthening public safety. He has also highlighted the redevelopment of the historic paper mill site and the improvement of riverfront walkways as key priorities to boost the local economy and living conditions.
Oregon City was incorporated in 1844, making it the oldest incorporated city west of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. state of Oregon.
