TILLAMOOK COUNTY PIONEER’S QUESTIONS FOR THE CANDIDATES PRIMARY ELECTION, MAY 19, 2026: STATE REPRESENTATIVE, 32nd DISTRICT, DEMCRAT CANDIDATE

Posted on by Editor

It’s election time – a Primary Election with several important positions being decided. Here’s the Tillamook County Pioneer”s “Questions for the Candidates.” This provides our communities with our expanded election coverage and an introduction to the candidates with an unbiased view to compare the candidates side-by-side on important issues. All candidates were provided with the same questions; the questions were provided by a wide variety of Tillamook County residents. If you have other “questions for the candidates” – please forward them to editor@tillamookcountypioneer.net.

There is only one Democrat candidate for State Representative, House District 32 – incumbent Cyrus Javadi.

Here are his answers to the questions:

Cyrus Javadi

1. I believe government should do a few things well: keep communities safe, maintain roads and basic infrastructure, support a strong economy, protect individual rights, and make it easier, not harder, for people to live, work, and raise a family.

I will keep showing up, listening, and doing the job with seriousness and humility. I will tell you what I really think, even when it is not the easiest thing to say. And I will work with anyone, if it helps the people of Tillamook County.

That is the kind of representative I try to be, and that is why I ask for your vote.

2. I would say the top five are:

  1. Affordable housing and the shortage of homes for working families
  2. Access to healthcare, especially in rural and coastal communities
  3. Protecting both our natural infrastructure — beaches, watersheds, rivers, forests, and farmland — and our built infrastructure, including roads, bridges, wastewater systems, and sanitation
  4. Economic opportunity and support for small business
  5. Public safety, emergency preparedness, and addiction and mental health challenges
3. To address housing, we need to make it easier to build homes that working families can actually afford. That means cutting unnecessary red tape, supporting practical local solutions, and increasing the supply of workforce housing without undermining the character of our communities.

For healthcare, we need to protect rural providers, strengthen clinics and hospitals, expand access to mental health and addiction treatment, and reduce barriers that make it harder for healthcare professionals to serve coastal and underserved areas.

When it comes to infrastructure, we need to think broadly. That means maintaining roads, bridges, and wastewater systems, but also protecting the natural systems that support our economy and quality of life, including beaches, rivers, forests, farmland, and watersheds. A county like ours depends on both.

Economic opportunity starts with supporting the industries and employers that already sustain Tillamook County. Small businesses, agriculture, fishing, forestry, tourism, and healthcare all matter. Government should be focused on removing obstacles, encouraging investment, and making it easier for people to work, hire, and grow.

Public safety requires both order and compassion. We need to support law enforcement, invest in emergency preparedness, expand treatment options for addiction and mental illness, and make sure communities are safe, stable, and resilient.

4. The best thing about Tillamook County is the people. This is a place where people still help neighbors, show up for their community, and take pride in hard work.  We also live in one of the most beautiful places in the country. The coast, the forests, the farms, the bay, and the small towns give this county a character you cannot manufacture. There is also a strong sense of independence here. People in Tillamook County are practical. They do not want a lot of drama. They want honesty, competence, and a fair shake. I respect that.
5. My guiding morals are honesty, responsibility, humility, loyalty to family, respect for other people, and a belief that every person has dignity. I also believe character matters. Keeping your word matters. Doing the right thing when it is unpopular matters. Treating people fairly matters. I do not think you have to agree with everyone to respect them, and I do not think politics should require us to lose our decency.
6. Citizens should trust me because I try to be honest, accessible, and consistent. I do not pretend to know everything, and I do not hide behind talking points when I owe people a real answer.  Trust in government gets rebuilt one step at a time: tell the truth, explain your votes, admit mistakes, return calls, listen seriously, and remember that elected office is not ownership over people. It is temporary stewardship.  Government earns trust when it becomes more transparent, more competent, less arrogant, and does the things it is supposed to do.
7.  I think I can make a difference by bringing a practical, independent voice to public service. I am not interested in being the loudest person in the room. I am interested in helping solve real problems.  I also think I bring a useful perspective because I have lived outside politics. I run a business, treat patients, employ people, and live with the same pressures many families feel every day.
8.  You start by remembering that disagreement is not the same thing as bad faith. Most people, even when I disagree with them, are trying to solve problems from their own point of view.  I work across the aisle by listening first, finding shared interests, and being willing to give credit to good ideas no matter where they come from. I am not interested in tribal politics. I am interested in what works.  You do not have to surrender your principles to work with people. You just have to be mature enough to do your job.
9.  The Federalist Papers — because they force you to think seriously about power, liberty, and human nature.  The Count of Monte Cristo — because it is one of the great adventure stories, and just plain fun to read.  Les Misérables — because it reminds us that people are more than the worst thing they have done. We make mistakes. We fall short. But we can grow, change, and try again. That is one of the best things about being human.
10.  I enjoy  writing, reading history, painting, traveling, playing the piano and golf. I also genuinely enjoy talking with people, hearing their stories, and learning how they see the world. A lot of what I do, both in dentistry and in public office, comes down to listening carefully and trying to help.
11. One of the most important moments in my life happened when I was 21.  I had not been a very good high school student. I was unfocused, immature, and not especially prepared for adulthood, which, to be fair, is a fairly common condition at that age. By the time I applied to college, I had convinced myself that the better opportunities in life had already passed me by.

Then a university accepted me anyway.

It felt like a fluke. Maybe even a clerical error. But it also felt like a second chance, and I decided not to waste it. I worked hard because I felt I had been given something I had not fully earned.  Years later, after college and dental school, I found out why I got in. My aunt, who worked in the admissions office and knew the struggles my family had been through, quietly helped open that door for me. She never mentioned it at the time. Not once. When I finally asked her about it years later, she just smiled.

That changed me.  It taught me that second chances matter. A lot of people do not need a miracle. They just need someone to open a door they cannot open by themselves. I have never forgotten that, and I try to pay it forward whenever I can.

12.
Spring is not naïve
It has seen the winter too
And still comes smiling