The contest for House District 32, which runs along the coast from Astoria to Neskowin, will be decided Nov. 3. Javadi, 49, has won the seat twice as a Republican. He changed his party affiliation in September 2025, after casting the only Republican vote for Gov. Tina Kotek’s $4.3 billion transportation plan, which included a 6-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase. Voters rejected the package in a May vote.

Javadi has said roads battered by coastal weather need more investment and that the state should find another way to pay for repairs. “I think what they said was, ‘We do want roads and bridges. We care about them, but we don’t think a gas tax at 6 cents is the best approach. So go back and figure it out,’” he said.

His willingness to break with Republicans has also surfaced on other issues. He supported a bill to make it harder for school districts to ban books, saying he worried that removing books could deprive young people, including his gay son, of stories that reflect their lives. He also backed a proposal to use taxes on health care providers to draw down additional federal Medicaid funding.

Javadi says his evolving views grew from questioning the conservative beliefs he was raised with. His campaign is presenting that independence as a strength. “I care more about what the community needs than what may work out for me politically,” he said.

Sherman, a 69-year-old farmer and retired high school teacher from Hebo, is campaigning on his local ties and opposition to tax increases. He has also criticized Javadi’s shifts on taxes and other issues as a breach of trust. “A lot of people here have lost trust in him,” Sherman said.

Sherman supports prioritizing funding for the Oregon Department of Transportation, as does Javadi, but says the state should build public confidence before raising taxes. His platform also calls for cutting regulations and dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Former state Sen. Betsy Johnson, who represented the area for two decades, has endorsed Sherman and appeared in television ads criticizing Javadi.

The district has about 55,800 voters, including roughly 2,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. But voters not affiliated with either major party outnumber both groups, making them a potentially decisive bloc. Republicans regained the seat in 2020 after 16 years of Democratic control.

The race has drawn substantial spending: Both candidates have raised more than $1 million, putting it among the most expensive Oregon House contests of the year. Javadi has been canvassing along the coast, where he says voters do not often raise the transportation vote. Republican organizers, however, say the party switch and tax vote have angered supporters who helped elect him in 2022 and 2024.

With national political momentum favoring Democrats, Sherman has called the contest a toss-up. Javadi is betting that voters will see his record as independent rather than opportunistic. The election will test whether that distinction resonates with a coastal district whose road needs are shared by both candidates, but whose voters remain divided over how to pay for them.