Bend’s Kropf and Knopp face off in legislative leadership

Published 3:50 pm Tuesday, August 1, 2023

The new legislative leadership teams announced in Salem include two Bend-area politicians: a rising Democratic star and a veteran Republican who has never lost a general election.

Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend, will be deputy majority whip of the House Democratic Caucus. Less than halfway through his second term, Kropf has risen to become one of the eight lawmakers leading the 35 Democrats in the 60-member House.

“I’ll work with the speaker and majority leader to keep everyone connected,” Kropf said Friday.

The job also calls for Kropf to be plugged in to the likely votes of his caucus and the opposition GOP. Along with House Whip Andrea Valderrama, D-Portland, he’ll be counted on by House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis and House Majority Leader Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, to know who is voting yes, no or wavering on each key bill.

The former Deschutes County prosecutor has been on the fast track since flipping a formerly Republican House seat in 2020. He’s already served as an assistant majority leader and chairs the House Judiciary Committee.

Kropf’s higher profile sets up a legislative — and perhaps electoral — battle with the longtime heavyweight among lawmakers from Deschutes County.

Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, will remain Senate minority leader into 2024. He was chief strategist on the 42-day GOP walkout in 2023 that stalled the session until Democrats agreed to revise bills on abortion, gender transition medical procedures and gun control.

During the 2024 legislative session, Kropf will be working to advance a Democratic agenda that Knopp will be trying to slow or stop.

But by the time the Legislature convenes on Feb. 5, they will be fast approaching the May primary, possibly vying for the same position.

Knopp’s Senate District 27 includes House Districts 53 and 54. Through the 2018 election, Republicans held both House seats along with Knopp’s senate seat. 

House District 54 flipped

In 2020, Kropf became the first Democrat in a decade to flip House District 54, the seat representing most of Bend. The city increasingly attracted a growing Democratic voter base. But moderate Republicans held onto the House seat through six straight elections until Kropf defeated one-term Rep. Cheri Helt, R-Bend.

The political landscape shifted further under redistricting for the 2022 election.

House District 53 was truncated to cover northern Bend and most of Redmond. It was shorn of Sunriver and La Pine, GOP strongholds to the south of the county. The area south of the Bend city limits is now in the district of Rep. E. Werner Reschke and Sen. Dennis Linthicum, both Republicans from Klamath Falls.

Rep. Jack Zika, R-Redmond, was the official incumbent for House District 53 in 2022.He opted not to seek another term.

In November, Bend attorney Emerson Levy narrowly defeated GOP businessman Michael Sipe, despite Republicans raising more funds and spending more money than Democrats.

The redistricting changed the boundaries of Knopp’s district as well. But senators are elected to four-year terms as opposed to House members, who run every two years. Knopp wouldn’t have to try to keep his seat until 2024.

Knopp has announced he’ll seek re-election despite the tougher challenge it presents for Republicans.

The Secretary of State’s Elections Division reported the July 2023 voter registration in Senate District 27 included 36,323 Democrats – nearly 10,000 more than registered Republicans at 26,478.

The largest slice of the district are non-affiliated voters, many of whom were put on the voter rolls through the state’s “motor voter” law and don’t officially have a political affiliation.

In announcing his re-election plans, Knopp last week said he and other Republicans were the only way to balance the dominant Democratic power that holds the state’s governorship, both U.S. Senate seats, all state executive offices, four of six congressional seats and majorities in the Senate and House.

“Oregonians are fed up with the national Democrat agenda.” Knopp said. “They are tired of out-of-control crime and drug use making their neighborhoods more dangerous. Oregonians deserve better than the reckless tax and spend policies driving up the cost of living and inflation across Oregon.” 

Knopp may not be able to run again

Before he can try to see if his incumbent status can overcome the voter registration edge of Democrats, Knopp must first win a political and then legal battle. 

Voters in 2022 approved Measure 113, which supporters say was written to bar anyone with 10 or more unexcused absences from being re-elected. 

Knopp led the Senate GOP walkout that pushed him, eight other Republicans, and one conservative Independent senator, beyond the limit.

GOP leaders believe Measure 113 has fatal flaws in the way it was written and could be unconstitutional.

Knopp last week asked the Secretary of State’s office for an opinion on his eligibility to run for another term. Whatever the decision, it’s likely to end up in court.

If Knopp can run, the two Democratic House members representing portions of his district would be natural opponents. Without Knopp in the race, their shot at election would likely increase against a lesser known opponent.

A ‘very different seat’

Levy is aware there is opportunity for a Democrat to win Senate District 27.

“It’s a very different seat now — I haven’t done the math, but I would assume it’s more D,” she texted on Friday. “D” being Democratic.

Levy says she won’t be the Democrat to test the waters with a Senate run.

“I’m running for re-election,” she said. “My heart is in ’53’,” she said.

As for Kropf, he already represents half the Senate district in the House. His name recognition, increased political profile in state politics, and the heavier Democratic tilt to the Senate district make a switch to the other chamber enticing.

The math may make sense, but Kropf is more intent on counting heads as the deputy whip in the House than counting votes in Senate District 27.

“Right now I am focused on this term,” Kropf said of his re-election to the House last year. “There’s still a lot of work to be done.”