State Rep. Cyrus Javadi and Astoria City Councilor Andy Davis answered questions on issues ranging from housing development and affordability to abortion and environmental concerns at a candidates’ forum for state House District 32.

In contrast to Javadi’s campaign advertisements that portray Davis as a left-wing extremist, the forum sponsored by the Astoria chapter of the American Association of University Women at Astoria High School on Monday night was measured in tone.

Javadi, a Tillamook Republican who has a dental practice, and Davis, a Democrat who works as an analyst for the Oregon Health Authority, shared broad agreement on several topics but differed substantially on environmental protection.

In response to a question about management of state forestland, Javadi, who has been critical of the state’s habitat conservation plan and endorsed by logging interests such as Hampton Lumber, spoke to concerns about the economic impacts of conservation efforts.

“I feel like the way things are going, especially right now, for our state forest, it’s going to have an impact on our timber industry and that’s going to affect a lot of jobs, a lot of people, a lot of kids, a lot of the county,” he said. “And we could have done better and still met the conservation goals that are important for our way of life out here on the coast.”

Davis spoke to the impacts of logging on watersheds.

“My impression is that we have historically overvalued the economic impact of the activities that we do in the state forest, and not tried to seek balance between all of the possible uses of the state forests,” he said. “So one of the things that I’ve talked about on the campaign trail especially is how forest activities can affect watersheds, can affect water supplies for communities, and how the state can play a role in making sure that those water supplies are controlled by local communities.”

The forum also offered insight into the candidates’ positions on abortion access. Javadi has previously identified himself as “pro-life,” but on Monday, he adopted a different tone, saying the choice to receive an abortion should stay between a woman and her doctor.

In 2023, Javadi voted against an abortion rights and gender-affirming care bill that had prompted a Republican walkout in Salem.

“I think that women find themselves in a position where they have to make that decision for a variety of reasons, and I think that no one knows best what that woman’s situation is than herself,” he said. “I think that when the health of the baby or the mother is in question and she needs the advice of a health care provider to help her understand what her options are, I think in Oregon, that right is pretty well protected, that access to abortion is pretty well developed.”

Davis, who has received an endorsement from Planned Parenthood in Oregon, defended a woman’s right to choose and noted the need for expanded access to reproductive care.

While abortion rights are protected in Oregon, The Astorian has reported that rural counties, like Clatsop County, are lacking in abortion services, which can create barriers for women and complicate their health care choices.

“Clatsop County does not have a clinic for reproductive care,” Davis said. “So the state supporting the implementation and founding of a clinic here, so that those services will be available locally, is an important thing for me, to make sure that that option is available for anyone who needs it.”

Javadi, who was elected in 2022, has a sizable campaign finance advantage over Davis, who stepped up as the Democratic nominee after Logan Laity, a Tillamook small-business owner, withdrew from the race in June. Laity narrowly lost to Javadi two years ago in a district that covers Clatsop and Tillamook counties and Clatskanie in Columbia County.

Asked to detail their campaign donors, Davis cited labor and other Democratic allies and Javadi pointed to business and Republican interests. But Javadi sought to provide context to the support his campaign has received from the conservative Koch Industries, which owns Georgia-Pacific.

Georgia-Pacific’s Wauna Mill is among Clatsop County’s largest employers.

“Wauna Mill employs hundreds of people in our district,” Javadi said. “(Koch Industries) are interested in supporting candidates that align with their interest in making sure that they can operate in a business-friendly environment. So I try to be careful with those that I accept, to make sure that nothing nefarious is going on. But there’s a variety of sources.”