Oregon Lawmaker Spends $1 Million to Defend Party Switch in Coastal Race

Both candidates in Oregon House District 32 have raised more than $1 million, a figure that may mark the state’s most expensive legislative contest this year. The spending has fueled a bidding war for attention in a district where nonaffiliated voters hold the balance of power.

The race pits incumbent Cyrus Javadi against challenger Max Sherman. Javadi, 49, represents a district stretching from Astoria to Neskowin. He won the seat twice as a Republican before changing his party registration to Democrat last year. His shift followed his vote for Governor Tina Kotek’s transportation tax package, a measure that included a 6-cent gas tax increase. Javadi stated that without new revenue, repairs would not reach the wind- and rain-damaged roads in his district.

Sherman, a 69-year-old farmer and retired high school teacher from Hebo, campaigns as an anti-tax candidate while acknowledging the need to fund the Oregon Department of Transportation. He highlights his background in agriculture, fishing, and forestry as central to the North Coast economy. His campaign targets Javadi’s changing positions. "A lot of people here have lost trust in him," Sherman said. He has run television ads alongside Lisa Lamping, chair of the Clatsop County Republicans, and former state legislator Betsy Johnson, who both endorse his candidacy.

The district contains roughly 55,800 voters. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 2,000, a margin that has not guaranteed Democratic victories. Republicans took the seat in 2020 after Democrats held it for 16 years. Nonaffiliated voters outnumber both parties and are viewed as the decisive group. Javadi spends as many as 30 or 40 hours a day canvassing neighborhoods. He noted that the May vote rejecting the tax package rarely comes up during these visits.

Javadi frames his political evolution as a personal strength. Raised in a conservative Mormon family in Utah, he said he found Republican arguments increasingly unconvincing. He cited his gay son when supporting a Democratic bill to limit school book bans. He was the only Republican to back Kotek’s $4.3 billion transportation plan, arguing that the benefit was worth the political cost. His campaign emphasizes that he stands by his values, a message that has attracted support from some local Democrats.

Sherman calls the race a "total toss-up" and a "nail-biter." Javadi plans to continue door-knocking until Election Day. He uses artificial intelligence as an editor and organizer for his Substack posts, where he explains his changes of position in detail.