State Rep. Jules Walters led Republican Chad Parker by 28 points in the House District 37 race on election night.
Walters had 64% of the vote to Parker's 36% among 21,462 ballots counted as of 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, as first reported by the West Linn Tidings. The results are not yet final. Election officials will continue processing and counting ballots received by 8 p.m. or postmarked by Election Day, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
Walters, a Democrat first elected to the Legislature in 2023, served as West Linn's mayor before joining the House. She serves as co-vice chair of the House Committee on Revenue and the Joint Committee on Tax Expenditures, according to the Tidings. The Tidings reported she has advocated against tolling and reducing childcare barriers.
Parker has served on Clackamas County boards and a River Grove parent teacher organization.
Bigger picture in Salem
Walters' 28-point margin tracked with statewide results. Early returns showed Democrats on track to claim 39 of the 60 seats in the state House, OPB reported. That would build on the party's existing three-fifths supermajority, which allows Democrats to pass new taxes without a single Republican vote.
Democrats were leading in all 37 House districts they held going into the election, plus two seats held by Republicans, the Capital Chronicle reported. If those leads hold, Democrats would control a record number of state House seats in 2027.
House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, told Willamette Week that she and her colleagues spent months planning priority issues for the coming session: health care, data centers, education, transportation and affordability for working families.
