Oregon Coast Race Pits Ex-GOP Lawmaker Against Farmer He Once Backed

Two candidates for an Oregon coastal House seat have each raised more than $1 million, a total that could make the contest the state's priciest House race this year. Cyrus Javadi, 49, is running for a third term in District 2 as a Democrat after winning twice as a Republican. His Republican opponent, Max Sherman, is a 69-year-old farmer and retired high school teacher from Hebo. Sherman calls the race "a total toss-up" that "could be a nail-biter." The money has bought both sides advertising in the Portland market that reaches the district.

Javadi moved from Republican to Democrat in two steps last year. He cast the vote that advanced Gov. Tina Kotek's package of transportation taxes and fees, which carried a 6-cent increase per gallon of gasoline, then changed his party registration. He has said he concluded that his district's roads, damaged by wind and rain, would receive no repair money otherwise. He was the only Republican to back Kotek's $4.3 billion transportation plan. Voters struck down that package at the ballot box in May. Javadi has said the result shows people want roads and bridges fixed without the per-gallon tax, and that the vote rarely comes up when he knocks on doors, even after meeting with 30 or 40 people in a day.

The district runs from Astoria south to Neskowin. About 2,000 more voters there register as Democrats than as Republicans, a margin that has not held in recent elections: Republicans took the seat in 2020 after Democrats held it for 16 years. Nonaffiliated voters outnumber both parties among roughly 55,800 registered voters in the district. Javadi has been knocking on doors along the coast to reach them.

Sherman has worked in agriculture, fishing and forestry, which he calls the North Coast's economic engines. His campaign pairs calls for cutting regulation and dismantling DEI initiatives with criticism of Javadi's shifting positions. "A lot of people here have lost trust in him," Sherman said. He also says funding the Oregon Department of Transportation is a priority while identifying himself as opposed to taxes.

Lisa Lamping, chair of the Clatsop County Republicans, worked to elect Javadi in 2022 and 2024. She called him an opportunist who once opposed taxes and abortion and now carries a Planned Parenthood endorsement, adding that local Republican reaction ranges from anger to "good riddance." Betsy Johnson, a former Democratic legislator who held the seat for two decades and ran for governor as a nonaffiliated candidate in 2022, has endorsed Sherman in television ads.

Javadi grew up in what he called a "very conservative" Mormon family in Utah. He has said Republican arguments on policy stopped persuading him, and he has written length about those changes on Substack. He backed a Democratic bill making it harder for school districts to ban books, citing his gay son, and helped argue for a measure raising federal Medicaid funding through taxes on healthcare providers. He plans to keep knocking on doors through Election Day.