Saba Ahmed is one of Oregon’s, and America’s, more unusual politicians.

She is a twenty-eight year Muslim woman who recently ran as a democrat for the Oregon House district one position in the US senate.

Following her defeat in the primary she switched parties to become a Republican because she felt the Republicans more closely reflected her conservative values. This seemed an unusual move considering the hostility many conservative Republicans feel towards Muslims.

None-the-less, Saba continues to seem satisfied with the switch.

Saba Ahmed has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Physics from Portland State University and is currently completing her joint Juris Doctorate-MBA degree at Lewis and Clark Law School and University of Portland.

She is no intellectual slouch.

She has worked for Intel Corporation, Digimarc Corporation, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and the Oregon Supreme Court.

In 2010 she successfully fought to repeal an Oregon law that banned teachers from wearing the Muslim headscarf, Sikh turban, Jewish yarmulke , or other religious attire. This was an Oregon law, originally passed to discriminate against Catholics, that was badly in need of repeal.

On the campaign trail Saba emphasizes her obvious qualifications to bridge the gap between the Christian and Muslim world view. She is also an outspoken critic of American military involvements.

Though I agree with her on some issues, her rather extreme conservatism doesn’t blend well with my observations of how the world works.

But what the hell, it’s our differences that make life so interesting. And Saba Ahmed is one interesting lady.