ICYMI: OPB: “Oregon State Rep. Cyrus Javadi Switches Political Teams, Registers as a Democrat” Arrow

Key Point: "Javadi announced Friday that he switched his registration to the majority party this week, ahead of a Sept. 4 deadline to do so in order to run as a Democrat in next year's election. 'Being an elected leader has never been about party loyalty to me,' Javadi said in a statement. 'It's been about how I can best fight for our community and our state.' … 'Time after time this past session, it was Democrats who stepped up to support the priorities of the coast, even though I wore the other team's jersey,' he wrote."

Oregon Public Broadcasting: Oregon state Rep. Cyrus Javadi switches political teams, registers as a Democrat

By Dirk VanderHart

• To some of his colleagues and constituents, Oregon state Rep. Cyrus Javadi has been voting like a Democrat for months.

• Now the former Tillamook Republican has made it official.

• Javadi announced Friday that he switched his registration to the majority party this week, ahead of a Sept. 4 deadline to do so in order to run as a Democrat in next year's election.

• "Being an elected leader has never been about party loyalty to me," Javadi said in a statement. "It's been about how I can best fight for our community and our state."

• He was one of the only Republicans to support renewing a largely noncontroversial tax on health care providers that helps the state bring in federal Medicaid funding.

• Javadi was the only Republican to cross the aisle on Monday to vote in favor of Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek's package of tax and fee hikes to fund road maintenance and avoid layoffs. The vote was decisive: Without Javadi's yes, the bill would have died in the House.

• "Every priority for Oregon's North Coast, nearly every single one, ran into opposition from my own party," Javadi wrote in the Substack post. "Protecting Medicaid benefits for the nearly 60% of children in Tillamook and Clatsop counties? Opposed. Keeping rural hospitals afloat? Opposed. Preserving students' access to books that reflect who they are? Opposed. Protecting the First Amendment rights of people different from ourselves? Opposed."

• Javadi concluded that he has not changed. He believes his party has.

• "Time after time this past session, it was Democrats who stepped up to support the priorities of the coast, even though I wore the other team's jersey," he wrote. "It didn't matter to them. What mattered was whether the policy worked."

• The switcharoo means Democrats will have an even larger majority in the House during next year's short session: 37 of the chamber's 60 seats.