![Meet the Candidates: The Race for State Senate 27 ▶ [With Video] (3)](https://media1.bendsource.com/bend/imager/u/original/21871770/news-candidate-web.jpg)
Democrat Anthony Broadman and Republican Michael Summers will face off in the race for the Senate seat in the 27th District, which represents Bend, Sisters, Tumalo and portions of Redmond. Tim Knopp, the current senator, is ineligible to run for re-election due to excessive absences during the last legislative session, when Republicans in the Oregon Senate staged a record-long walkout.
Broadman lives in Bend and has served on the Bend City Council since 2020. He served as Mayor Pro Tem in 2022 and is an attorney for tribal governments and small businesses. Summers, from Redmond, currently serves as the chair for the Redmond School Board, runs a family business, and is a drummer for local cover band, Precious Byrd.
Last week, the Source Weekly conducted an interview with the two candidates to hear about issues that matter to Central Oregonians. Here are some of their thoughts.
When asked why they are running, Summers started, and touted himself as a “bridge-builder” who’s able to work with both sides of the political spectrum.
“I jumped in, and I'm so proud of the work that we were able to do. I have a politically diverse school board that I respect and love tremendously, and I feel like we've been able to balance each other out,” said Summers of his time as board chair.
Broadman described himself as a practical and pragmatic policy maker, mentioning child care, health care, and bipartisan cooperation as important issues in this region.
“The decisions that we make in public service are serious and have real life consequences, and they're too important to distract ourselves with culture wars and partisanship,” said Broadman.
Both candidates agreed that housing and affordable housing remain the biggest issues facing Oregonians. “We have a ton more work to do, but I'm really proud of the progress that this community has made,” said Broadman, pointing to the success Bend has had in building more homes for working families than any other city in the state, per capita.
“We're going to need these creative types of initiatives in the legislature in order to meet our challenges when it comes to housing, when it comes to homelessness,” he said.
Summers said housing is the root cause of many issues in Central Oregon, including inflationary pressures on every industry. Growth, which he’s seen over his lifetime, has been so fast, he said, and infrastructure needs to catch up. He added that regulations that slow down our housing production need to be addressed.
“We absolutely have to have housing codes, but at a time where it's an emergency status for housing, we have to deregulate the things that can be deregulated and revisit them and say what's working, what's not,” said Summers.
Both candidates agree that houselessness is a housing problem, and that more affordable housing options are needed to find solutions.
On the topic of bipartisanship, Summers talked about the need for cooperation, and pressed on the idea that he is always open to new and diverse viewpoints that can help him see things from a different perspective.
“The only reason I'm running for this right now is because I thought, ‘if I can do this on a school board that is as diverse as ours, and still have joy and peace and something that brings a community wholeness, I'm in,’” said Summers.
Broadman agreed about the importance of working together and brought up the walkouts that occurred last year. “I'm tired of all of the great work we're doing in this community, on housing, on homelessness, on education, on wildfire resilience, being stymied by these extremist walkouts. And for the record, I'm committing right now. I will never walk out,” he said.
Broadman lives in Bend and has served on the Bend City Council since 2020. He served as Mayor Pro Tem in 2022 and is an attorney for tribal governments and small businesses. Summers, from Redmond, currently serves as the chair for the Redmond School Board, runs a family business, and is a drummer for local cover band, Precious Byrd.
Last week, the Source Weekly conducted an interview with the two candidates to hear about issues that matter to Central Oregonians. Here are some of their thoughts.
When asked why they are running, Summers started, and touted himself as a “bridge-builder” who’s able to work with both sides of the political spectrum.
“I jumped in, and I'm so proud of the work that we were able to do. I have a politically diverse school board that I respect and love tremendously, and I feel like we've been able to balance each other out,” said Summers of his time as board chair.
![Meet the Candidates: The Race for State Senate 27 ▶ [With Video] (2)](https://media2.bendsource.com/bend/imager/u/original/21867193/28.38_news._senate_race.__michael_summers_.jpeg)
Broadman described himself as a practical and pragmatic policy maker, mentioning child care, health care, and bipartisan cooperation as important issues in this region.
“The decisions that we make in public service are serious and have real life consequences, and they're too important to distract ourselves with culture wars and partisanship,” said Broadman.
Both candidates agreed that housing and affordable housing remain the biggest issues facing Oregonians. “We have a ton more work to do, but I'm really proud of the progress that this community has made,” said Broadman, pointing to the success Bend has had in building more homes for working families than any other city in the state, per capita.
“We're going to need these creative types of initiatives in the legislature in order to meet our challenges when it comes to housing, when it comes to homelessness,” he said.
Summers said housing is the root cause of many issues in Central Oregon, including inflationary pressures on every industry. Growth, which he’s seen over his lifetime, has been so fast, he said, and infrastructure needs to catch up. He added that regulations that slow down our housing production need to be addressed.
“We absolutely have to have housing codes, but at a time where it's an emergency status for housing, we have to deregulate the things that can be deregulated and revisit them and say what's working, what's not,” said Summers.
Both candidates agree that houselessness is a housing problem, and that more affordable housing options are needed to find solutions.
On the topic of bipartisanship, Summers talked about the need for cooperation, and pressed on the idea that he is always open to new and diverse viewpoints that can help him see things from a different perspective.
“The only reason I'm running for this right now is because I thought, ‘if I can do this on a school board that is as diverse as ours, and still have joy and peace and something that brings a community wholeness, I'm in,’” said Summers.
Broadman agreed about the importance of working together and brought up the walkouts that occurred last year. “I'm tired of all of the great work we're doing in this community, on housing, on homelessness, on education, on wildfire resilience, being stymied by these extremist walkouts. And for the record, I'm committing right now. I will never walk out,” he said.
![Meet the Candidates: The Race for State Senate 27 ▶ [With Video]](https://media1.bendsource.com/bend/imager/u/original/21867191/28.38_news__senate_race__anthony_broadman_.jpg)
When asked if he saw himself, in any instance, participating in a walkout, Summers said he would not walk out over policy issues, but asserted that a walkout would not happen if he’s elected, referencing his ability to work with both parties.
“I never walk out for policy issues like that,” Summers said during our interview. “I'm committed to being engaged and really making sure that we are actually at the table, balancing out some of those policies. And I think that was a place of kind of desperation because of the super majority. That was the only lever they had to pull. I'm not in that position, and won't be, because I'll be in there, and so I'll be able to balance that out and actually make sure that we have some voices at the table.”
Ending out their interview, Broadman spoke about his accomplishments, and what he hopes to see moving forward. “I've been a pragmatic city councilor, somebody who's worked with people from across the political spectrum to get things done. I think our community is really tired of culture wars, and I think ready to move past it,” said Broadman.
Summers stuck to the idea of working with both sides, and continuing to put people over politics. “As somebody that really wants to build bridges and wants to continue relationship outside of politics, politics is not the end-all-be-all of a community,” said Summers.
WATCH: Our interview with Broadman and Summers:
“I never walk out for policy issues like that,” Summers said during our interview. “I'm committed to being engaged and really making sure that we are actually at the table, balancing out some of those policies. And I think that was a place of kind of desperation because of the super majority. That was the only lever they had to pull. I'm not in that position, and won't be, because I'll be in there, and so I'll be able to balance that out and actually make sure that we have some voices at the table.”
Ending out their interview, Broadman spoke about his accomplishments, and what he hopes to see moving forward. “I've been a pragmatic city councilor, somebody who's worked with people from across the political spectrum to get things done. I think our community is really tired of culture wars, and I think ready to move past it,” said Broadman.
Summers stuck to the idea of working with both sides, and continuing to put people over politics. “As somebody that really wants to build bridges and wants to continue relationship outside of politics, politics is not the end-all-be-all of a community,” said Summers.
WATCH: Our interview with Broadman and Summers:
