The blue tsunami has hit the high desert as Democrats won both area state representative races. Emerson Levy (D/I) appeared poised to win her third House District 53 term with 59.32% of the vote as of 8pm Tuesday night, while Jason Kropf (D) ran uncontested in the House District 54 race, securing his fourth term.
“I’m really excited to go back to Salem and continue serving the people of Oregon,” Levy said.
Levy, a Bend resident, attorney and adjunct professor at Oregon Institute of Technology, had approximately 17,762 votes to about 12,163 for Michael Summers (R/L), her challenger. During her House tenure, Levy, who initially took office in January 2023, helped fund the first and only youth psychiatric hospital bed in Central Oregon and championed a youth e-bike safety bill. She also supported legislation that would have banned cell phones in schools (though that was ultimately achieved through Gov. Tina Kotek’s executive order). During a pre-election interview with the Source, Levy indicated that she’s planning to focus on reducing the cost of prescription drugs, preventing and mitigating wildfire, regulating e-bikes and protecting kids online. In addition, she’s committed to keeping Oregon kids covered by health insurance as the state navigates a billion-dollar deficit in the coming session.
House District 53 includes northern Bend, Tumalo, Sisters, Black Butte, Cloverdale, Eagle Crest and a portion of Redmond. Often called a “purple” district, as of February 2026, it has approximately 17,832 registered Democrats, 15,991 registered Republicans and 20,655 non-affiliated voters.
Levy counted among her endorsements the Oregon Business & Industry PAC, Oregon Chiefs of Police Association, Oregon State Fire Fighters Council, the Oregon Nurses Association and Planned Parenthood Action Oregon.
Summers, Levy’s opponent, currently serves as vice chair of the Redmond School Board, on which he’s sat since 2021. The musician and small business owner runs Summers Flooring & Design. His school-board term ends in 2029.
In the House District 54 race, Kropf, who serves as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, didn’t face a challenger, and scored 95.91% of the votes, or about 18,749, as of 8pm Tuesday. There were approximately 799 write-in votes, for about 4.09%.
House District 54 falls within Deschutes County, encompassing most of Bend proper, including much of Tetherow and Oregon State University-Cascades and extending toward Deschutes River Woods and east of town. According to the Oregon Capital Chronicle, the 54th House District has a “nearly equal number of Democrats and nonaffiliated voters, while less than one-fifth of the district’s voters are Republicans.”
Kropf, a former deputy district attorney and public defender, counted among his endorsement U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Dan Rayfield, State Senator Anthony Broadman, Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler, the Oregon Nurses Association, Oregon State Fire Fighters Council, Oregon League of Conservation Voters and the American Federation of Teachers – Oregon. Additionally, he was awarded the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate distinction.
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