Yes they can!

The list of Starfleet Commanders shows that we do have some officers who are in Operations but have the rank of 'Commander'. Those mentioned on that list in the TNG era are:

• Commander Harkins, the head of the Pathfinder Project in Voyager
• Commander Kaplan, the chief engineer of the USS Intrepid in 2370

Others from pre-TNG era include:

• Commander Beach
• Commander Chekov
• Commander Kelby
• Commander Kyle
• Commander Scott
• Commander Tucker
• Commander Uhura
• Commander Yacobian

Going through that list I must confess that the majority of Commanders were in the Command or Sciences divisions and far fewer were in Operations, but officers in the Operations Division can definitely be promoted to Commander and remain in Operations.