A Portland physician, Dr. Brian Duty, announced Thursday he’ll run in the Democratic primary for the northwest Portland state House district now represented by state Rep. Maxine Dexter, a Democrat and doctor who is running for Congress. 

Duty, a surgeon and professor of urology at Oregon Health & Science University, told the Capital Chronicle health care is central to the biggest concerns in the 33rd House District, which runs from downtown to the affluent West Hills of Portland.

“There are a tremendous number of issues that are going to impact our state from a health care standpoint, and so I think it is imperative that we have a physician in the house,” he said. 

The district has been dominated by medical professionals for the past two decades. Dexter, a pulmonologist at Kaiser Permanente in Hillsboro,  was appointed to the seat in 2020 after the death of former state Democratic state Rep. Mitch Greenlick, an OHSU professor who served in the Legislature from 2003 until his death. 

The Legislature now has three physicians, all from the same geographic area. Rep. Lisa Reynolds, D-Beaverton, represents the district neighboring Dexter’s district, and Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, D-Portland, represents the Senate district that encompasses the two House districts. Steiner is running for treasurer and Reynolds intends to seek an appointment to finish her Senate term if she succeeds.

Duty’s starting his campaign with an endorsement from Oregon’s most prominent doctors-turned-politicians, former Gov. John Kitzhaber. 

“Oregon is at its best when we create a clear vision for the future and concrete steps to get us there,” Kitzhaber said in a statement. “I have known Dr. Duty for years, and I believe that is exactly the approach he will bring to the Legislature and he has my enthusiastic endorsement.”

Duty said his first priority if elected would be legislation addressing the state’s hospital capacity crisis. It came to a head during the COVID pandemic, but even before the pandemic Oregon and Washington had the lowest number of hospital beds per capita in the country. Lawmakers have made efforts in recent years to address the shortage of beds and health care workers, including a new nurse staffing law and a $200 million workforce training investment targeted at health care, manufacturing and construction, but problems persist. 

He now spends about half his time traveling across Oregon to meet with clinicians and leadership teams at hospitals to find ways they can work together to provide health care. 

Measure 110, the 2020 voter-approved law that decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs, is also top of mind for voters in the district, Duty said. He said he’s still meeting with community organizations and making up his mind about the issue, but he said his initial inclination is that the law should be amended to ban the use of drugs in public spaces while maintaining and expanding funding for behavioral health and drug addiction. 

Duty is the first candidate to announce a run for the seat, but two other Democratic hopefuls set up fundraising committees this month. Pete Grabiel is a partner at Portland-based Pitzer Law and Tim Clairmont is a financial adviser at Lake Oswego-based Clear Financial Partners. The district is overwhelmingly Democratic and the next representative is all but certain to be chosen in the May primary.