Westlund To Be Honored At Two Services

By Chris Lehman | March 9, 2010 6:01 a.m. | Updated: June 16, 2010 11:56 p.m. | Salem, OR

Ben Westlund will be remembered at a pair of memorial services in Bend and Salem later this week. The Oregon state Treasurer died Sunday morning of lung cancer at the age of 60. His death also means a last-minute scramble for candidates who want to replace him.  Chris Lehman reports.
Ben Westlund is being remembered as a skillful politician with a down-home personality. But many at the capitol best remember him for a speech he gave on the floor of the Oregon House in 2003. Partisan rancor was rampant in the middle of a budget crisis, and it was Westlund's first time back after being treated for lung cancer. And he had a message for his colleagues. Ben Westlund: “I, like many Oregonians, pray for us. Pray, that we may stop being mere politicians who think only of the next election and start being statesman who think only of the next generation.”Westlund beat cancer that time and the central Oregon Republican soon moved up to a seat in the Oregon Senate. Around that time he was questioning his place with the GOP and in 2006, he launched a campaign for governor as an independent. At a state capitol press conference on the day he filed, Westlund blasted the political atmosphere of Salem. Ben Westlund: “We are where we are, mired in mediocrity, because extreme partisan politics all too often trumps good public policy.”Westlund dropped out of the race when it was becoming clear he wasn't earning enough support to be a viable candidate. Later that year, he switched from being an independent to being a Democrat. He was elected as a Democrat to the Oregon Treasurer's office in 2008. Last fall, less than a year into his term, Westlund revealed that his cancer had returned. Even so, his death came as a shock. He was in the office as recently as last week. Senate President Peter Courtney says he still has the last voicemail message Westlund left him. It came last month as Courtney was presiding over a hectic legislative special session. The subject of Westlund's message? Baseball's spring training.Peter Courtney: “Here he is. He's battling cancer, we're in the second annual session, we're trying blah blah blah blah blah… ‘Pitchers and catchers report.' I just started laughing. I mean laughing, laughing, laughing. Because it meant…he and I had this moment that we could take, always about baseball, always about baseball.”Westlund was such a big baseball fan he even owned a minor league team in Bend for a few years. His death means that Governor Ted Kulongoski will appoint a replacement who will serve as treasurer until the November election. That person could run to serve the remainder of Westlund's term, but like all other major-party candidate, he or she would have to file by the Tuesday filing deadline. Oregon elections director Steve Trout says the rushed timeline is set by state law and cannot be changed:Steve Trout: “With elections, the deadline is set. The primary's going to be on May 18. I don't get to bounce it back two weeks for extenuating circumstances or whatever. The election has to take place that day.”As of Monday afternoon, the only candidate to file to run for Oregon Treasurer is Democratic state senator Rick Metsger. A spokesman for the Oregon Republican party says the GOP will field at least one candidate, but declined to offer any names.As candidates get ready for a campaign they didn't expect, Ben Westlund will be remembered at a memorial service Friday afternoon in Bend. Another service is set for Saturday afternoon in the Oregon House chambers. Governor Ted Kulongoski has ordered flags at half-staff from Tuesday through Sunday.

© 2010 Northwest News Network

Share this article

Discuss

blog comments powered by Disqus

Become a sponsor