In announcing treasurer bid, Westlund cites need to shore up state’s finances

By James Sinks / The Bulletin
Published: October 04. 2007 5:00AM PST

SALEM — State Sen. Ben Westlund, D-Tumalo, who made a brief independent bid for governor last year, has not abandoned his dream of holding statewide office.

In a Capitol news conference Wednesday, and standing alongside the governor he considered challenging, Westlund announced that he will give up his Central Oregon legislative seat and run to be the next state treasurer.

“I loved being in the House and I revere the Senate, but my issues have become statewide issues,” he said, citing his advocacy for health care reform, shoring up the state’s fiscal structure and protecting people from predatory loans.

“This is the proper move at the proper time,” he said.

Westlund, 58, becomes the first candidate to enter the fray for state treasurer, which will be an open seat in November 2008. The treasurer manages the state’s bonds, helps oversee the state’s $66 billion portfolio and sits on the State Land Board, which monitors financial activity on public-owned parcels and waterways.

“The management of today’s assets creates tomorrow’s successes,” he said.

The current treasurer, Portland Democrat Randall Edwards, cannot run again because of term limits.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski said after Westlund’s announcement speech that he harbors no ill will against the candidate who challenged him a year ago. He said Westlund has been an ally at the Capitol and had no qualms about endorsing him for treasurer.

“He will be a strong voice for not only strong fiscal management but for the issues he feels passionately about,” Kulongoski said.

Westlund downplayed any irony of the two standing side by side, and said that his independent bid was not against Kulongoski. “I was running for Oregon,” he said.

After his Capitol speech, Westlund drove to Central Oregon for a campaign kickoff event at the Bend Brewing Company in downtown Bend.

Previously in the cattle breeding business and now a health care industry consultant, Westlund has represented Central Oregon at the statehouse since 1996, first in the state House and then in the Senate.

He was the House budget chief from 2001 to 2003, a post from which he helped guide more than $1 billion in budget cuts during the economic nosedive that followed Sept. 11, 2001.

In the assembly, he led efforts to create a fund to aid the families of public safety officers wounded or killed in the line of duty, to create an Oregon Cultural Trust to bolster arts funding, and to launch and then keep open the Central Oregon branch campus of Oregon State University.

But his two signature issues have become health care reform and fiscal reform. He was the co-architect of a plan in the 2007 session that will move Oregon toward universal care, and he has been an outspoken critic of the state’s income tax-reliant revenue system.

Westlund congratulated the work of Edwards and said he will continue efforts to get people to save for college and to become more financially literate. But Westlund said he will expand the job of treasurer to be a more activist post.

“It’s not just a management position — it’s a pulpit for public policy reform,” he said.

Westlund entered politics as a Republican and was the campaign manager for Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix in 2002.

But Westlund was increasingly at odds with the party — he was frequently called a RINO, for Republican in Name Only — because of his liberal stands on social bills and his support of taxes as a way to soften program cuts.

He switched his party affiliation to independent early last year, and then filed as a Democrat in December.

Oregon Republican Party Chairman Vance Day said that the party is courting several potential candidates to run against Westlund, who he believes lacks the necessary financial background to manage the treasury.
 

‘Wasting of resources’

“If Oregonians like increased spending and wasting of resources, then Ben should be treasurer, because he can spend money like a drunken sailor,” Day said.

He said he suspects Westlund is running for treasurer as a prelude to a bid for governor in 2010.

“Ben is a friend of mine and I like him, but Ben has as much interest in being treasurer as I have in running for dogcatcher,” Day said.

But another Republican — state Rep. Chuck Burley, R-Bend — said Westlund understands the state’s finances like few others and would do a fine job as treasurer.

“I thought Ben was very good at working in a bipartisan manner, and he was able to get things done for his district,” Burley said in a phone interview. “And I’m sure he’ll do the same if he’s elected state treasurer.”

Westlund, asked whether he still harbors gubernatorial ambitions, said he has no plans — “immediate or otherwise” — to make a repeat bid for the state’s top job.

He survived a bout with lung cancer in 2003, and said Wednesday that the last several scans have showed he is clean.

In 2003, Deschutes County Republicans nominated Westlund for his Senate seat to complete the term of former House Speaker Bev Clarno, a Redmond Republican, who was appointed to a federal job. Westlund earned election to the post in 2004.

But then, after he was one of the architects of a plan in 2005 to offer marriage-like benefits to same-sex couples, unhappy Republicans considered a recall. It never materialized, however.

In early 2006, he switched to independent and staged a six-month campaign for governor. But he dropped out before ballots were printed, after determining he would only be a spoiler and had no chance to win.

His campaign bank account remains $119,150 in debt from that failed bid, according to state elections disclosures.

After leaving the race, Westlund endorsed Kulongoski.

Westlund does not have a well-beaten path to follow into state office. East-side lawmakers have fared poorly in bids for those posts against better known candidates from the Interstate 5 corridor, and the only current statewide officeholder from the dry side of the Cascades is U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Pendleton.

In 2000, Powell Butte rancher Lynn Lundquist, a former House Speaker, lost a bid to become secretary of state. In 1996, Clarno fell short in her attempt to be treasurer.

Westlund’s decision to not seek re-election could lead to a scramble for the District 27 Senate seat, which represents most of Deschutes County.

The only person to file for that post thus far is Bend City Councilor Chris Telfer, who switched her registration this spring from Democrat to Republican.

Former state Sen. Neil Bryant, a Bend attorney, said Westlund has been able to accumulate significant clout in the Legislature — especially during his term as the budget-writing co-chairman from 2001 to 2003.

“The co-chair of Ways and Means is one of the most powerful positions in Salem, and you can do a lot,” Bryant said.

In that capacity, Westlund was able to keep the branch campus from being shuttered, as some legislators wanted, Bryant said.

Bryant said he’s unaware of any serious candidates, Democrat or Republican, who will jump into the race — but it’s still six months until the filing deadline.

And he shares the belief that Westlund wants to use the treasurer job as a stepping stone to even higher office. “I think his long-term goal is still to be governor,” Bryant said.

State Rep. Gene Whisnant, R-Sunriver, said he thinks Westlund’s party switch and his background of supporting taxes will make it harder for Westlund to win support statewide — especially if Republicans can field a candidate with a business background.

“Ben is going to have some baggage,” Whisnant said.

Westlund seemed prepared for questions about his business acumen, however, using his speech to highlight his private sector experience before entering the Legislature.

“As a business owner and entrepreneur, I know firsthand the struggles of meeting payroll, the risk of expansion, and the prudence and discipline required of running a successful venture,” he said. “They are lessons hard-learned, and I will take them with me to the state Treasurer’s office.”

James Sinks/ The Bulletin.