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Good morning, Northwest.
Oregon state Rep. Cyrus Javadi has twice won election to represent House District 32 on the North Coast — both times as a Republican. Now, after switching parties last year, he’s seeking reelection as a Democrat. With Election Day less than two weeks away, can he win a third term under a different party banner? OPB’s Dirk VanderHart spoke with Javadi and his Republican challenger, Max Sherman.
Here’s your First Look at Saturday’s news.
— Winston Szeto
Top stories
Oregon state Rep. Cyrus Javadi, D-Tillamook, waves to a vehicle passing by while canvassing on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Tillamook, Ore.
Jenny Kane for OPB / OPB
Cyrus Javadi switched parties. Will his Oregon district reelect him anyway?
Republican lawmaker Cyrus Javadi shocked his party last year when he voted for a package of transportation tax and fee hikes introduced by Gov. Tina Kotek that included an unpopular 6-cent gas tax increase.
Then, perhaps recognizing Republicans would never reward such apostasy with reelection, he switched parties.
Now Javadi’s up for reelection.
He has won his coastal district — stretching from Astoria down to Neskowin — twice. But he did so as a Republican. On Nov. 3, he’ll find out how voters feel about his political moves. (Dirk VanderHart)
FILE - Ballots move through a signature verification system at the Multnomah County Elections Division office in Portland, Ore., Nov. 1, 2024.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Federal election monitors will be on hand in Portland on Election Day
The Trump administration is sending monitors to watch vote counting in Oregon’s most liberal county on Election Day.
In an email Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice told state elections officials it will send an unspecified number of election monitors from its Civil Rights Division to Multnomah County on Nov. 3 as staff accept and process ballots.
The DOJ told Bloomberg earlier this year it would deploy up to 1,000 such monitors nationwide — even as the administration bucks decades of precedent by not allowing international election observers to scrutinize the midterms. (Dirk VanderHart)
3 things to know
FILE - The sun sets over the U.S. Coast Guard facility at the Newport Municipal Airport, where the rescue helicopter typically is and near the area that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seemingly considering for a facility in Newport, Ore., on Nov. 17, 2025.
Eli Imadali / OPB
- Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, confirmed in federal court filings that it has abandoned plans to build a detention center in Newport and that it presently has no plans to build anywhere in Oregon. (Courtney Sherwood)
- Yesterday, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality notified Precision Castparts Corp. that it had committed “the most serious violations” of Oregon environmental law, causing an industrial chemical leak that killed multiple fish in Portland’s Johnson Creek in late September. (April Ehrlich)
- Students at Oregon State University’s Cascades campus in Bend are worried about their safety after alleged incidents of sexual assault that took place on early October and the Silver Rail Elementary School shooting. (Natalie Pate)
Northwest headlines
FILE - The Amtrak Cascades route serves 18 stations between Vancouver, Canada, and Eugene, Ore. Shown here is a new Airo train entering the Salem station during testing in July.
Courtesy of Oregon Department of Transportation
- The possible future of passenger rail in the Pacific Northwest (Lillian Karabaic)
- Fewer fires, record damage: Oregon’s 2026 wildfire season by the numbers (Casey Frizzell)
- Oregon counties, cities say data center moratorium could cost them millions (April Ehrlich and Antonio Sierra)
- Ousted conservative, Democratic newcomer seek seats on Clackamas County commission (Holly Bartholomew)
- Police identify victims in Clackamas County triple homicide (Joni Auden Land)
- Portland General Electric needs to double its renewable energy portfolio to meet Oregon’s first climate benchmark (Monica Samayoa)
- Deni Avdija scores 26 points to lead Trail Blazers in win over Kings (Antonio Ray Harvey, AP)
- Müller scores and the Thorns clinch a playoff spot with a 1-0 win over the Courage (Phuoc Nguyen, AP)
One more look
Call this caramel apple compote King Midas because everything it touches turns to gold
Heather Arndt Anderson / OPB
Superabundant recipe: This warm caramel apple compote turns everything it touches to gold
The apple may not have fallen far from the tree, but it’s certainly spread across the globe for centuries.
So have recipes for apple desserts.
There’s a recipe for stewed apples in ancient Mesopotamian tablets, and spiced fruit preserves called murabba appeared in the 10th century.
Today’s recipe puts its own twist on using the fruit as a sweet treat. It’s saucy, rich and buttery like a proper caramel sauce should be, and the apples stay tender and crisp, cooked just enough to soften on the edges. (Heather Arndt Anderson)
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