Maxine Dexter Bio
Maxine Elizabeth Dexter is an American physician and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Oregon’s 3rd congressional district since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents a district that includes most of Portland east of the Willamette River. Dexter is also a practicing pulmonologist and critical care medicine specialist.
Before her election to Congress, Dexter represented Oregon’s 33rd House district from 2020 to 2024. In the Oregon legislature she became known for sponsoring opioid antidote and fentanyl test strip legislation and for chairing the House Housing and Homelessness Committee. She has said her top congressional priorities are expanding access to health care and improving air quality.
Early Life and Background
Maxine Elizabeth Dexter was born on December 5, 1972, in Bothell, Washington. She grew up in Bothell and graduated from Inglemoor High School. Her early years in the Pacific Northwest shaped her interest in both public policy and medicine.
Dexter went on to attend the University of Washington, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and communication. She continued her education at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where she received her Doctor of Medicine. Her combined training in political science and medicine laid the groundwork for a career that would eventually bridge clinical practice and public service.
After medical school, Dexter completed her medical residency in Aurora, Colorado. She later moved to Portland, Oregon, with her husband in 2008 and settled in North Portland, where she continues to reside.
Path to US Politics
Dexter’s entry into politics was influenced by her medical career and by national events that shaped her sense of civic responsibility. She has worked as a pulmonologist with Kaiser Permanente in Hillsboro, Oregon, and continued part-time clinical work in that role even while campaigning for higher office.
Her decision to run for the Oregon legislature followed the 2018 Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearing, during which Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, which he forcefully denied. Dexter has said that hearing inspired her to seek elected office.
In 2020 she ran to succeed Mitch Greenlick as representative for Oregon’s 33rd House district. She won the Democratic primary on May 17, 2020, with 40 percent of the vote, defeating three other candidates, including Christina Stephenson. Greenlick died on May 15, and Dexter was appointed to finish out his term a month later.
Maxine Dexter Career
Early Career (2020-2022)
Dexter took office in the Oregon House of Representatives in 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a practicing physician, she treated patients with the disease and also wrote a letter urging Oregon Governor Kate Brown to close Oregon schools in April 2020.
She was reelected in 2022 and continued to build a record on health and housing policy. During the 2023 session she served as chair of the House Housing and Homelessness Committee and was credited with helping pass a $200 million spending bill on housing and homelessness issues.
Oregon House Breakthrough (2022-2024)
In 2023 Dexter introduced a bill that expanded access to the opioid antidote medication naloxone, allowing first responders to distribute the drug to members of the general public and decriminalizing fentanyl test strips. Governor Tina Kotek signed the bill into law on August 8, 2023.
That same year she chaired the House Housing and Homelessness Committee, where she helped pass the $200 million housing and homelessness package. Her growing profile in state-level health and housing policy established her as a leading voice in the Oregon Democratic caucus.
On July 31, 2024, Dexter announced she would resign from the Oregon legislature to focus on her campaign for Congress, with the resignation taking effect August 30, 2024. Her departure marked the end of her tenure in the Oregon House and the start of her national campaign.
U.S. House Era (2025-Present)
On December 5, 2023, Dexter announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Oregon’s 3rd congressional district, seeking to succeed retiring Representative Earl Blumenauer. She said in an interview that she had planned to run for Congress since she was 20 years old.
In the May 2024 Democratic primary she faced former Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal and Gresham City Councilor Eddy Morales. Dexter was the top recipient of independent expenditure spending in the primary, with 314 Action spending about $2.2 million in support of her campaign. She also drew endorsements from Oregon House Speaker Dan Rayfield, The Oregonian, and Willamette Week, while a super PAC affiliated with AIPAC put more than $2 million behind her campaign. Dexter won the Democratic primary, which was effectively the decisive contest in Oregon’s most Democratic district.
On November 5, 2024, Dexter defeated Republican nominee Joanna Harbour in the general election. She took office on January 3, 2025, alongside other members of the 119th United States Congress. In April 2025, she traveled to El Salvador to try to help Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been deported by President Donald Trump in a manner whose legality had been questioned by Dexter and many other public officials.
Notable Events and Milestones
Dexter’s signature legislative achievement at the state level was the 2023 naloxone and fentanyl test strip bill, which became law on August 8, 2023. Her 2023 leadership of the House Housing and Homelessness Committee and the passage of a $200 million housing package marked another milestone, and her 2024 election to the U.S. House represented the highest office of her career to date.
Maxine Dexter Political Positions and Priorities
Dexter has outlined a clear set of policy priorities in both state and federal office. She supports the transition to a single-payer health care system, greater protections for employees, increased funding for public housing, stricter gun control, and stronger action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Healthcare and Public Health
Expanding access to health care has been a central theme of Dexter’s career. Her work in the Oregon legislature focused on opioid overdose response through naloxone access and fentanyl test strip decriminalization. In Congress she has identified passing legislation to expand access to health care and to improve air quality as her leading priorities.
Foreign Policy Positions
Dexter supports efforts to condition U.S. aid to Israel amid the ongoing Gaza war. She cosponsored the Block the Bombs Act, which would block offensive weapons to Israel, and was one of 21 Democrats who sponsored a resolution led by Representative Rashida Tlaib condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide and calling for sanctions against Israel.
Maxine Dexter Family
Family Background and Personal Life
Maxine Elizabeth Dexter was born Maxine Elizabeth Johnson and grew up in Bothell, Washington. She moved to Portland with her husband in 2008 and currently lives in North Portland. Public details about her parents, children, and extended family are not widely documented.
Personal Life
Dexter balances her political career with continued part-time clinical work as a pulmonologist and critical care medicine specialist with Kaiser Permanente in Hillsboro. She has cited the 2018 Kavanaugh confirmation hearing as a turning point that moved her from medical practice into elected office, and she continues to draw on her medical background in her legislative work.