Ben Westlund
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Ben Westlund (born September, 1949 in Long Beach, California) is a Democratic Oregon state senator representing District 27, which covers most of Deschutes County and includes the city of Bend, Oregon. He ran for Governor of Oregon as an independent in 2006, but dropped out of the race in August. In December 2006, Westlund became a Democrat.[1][2]
A native of California, Westlund's family moved to Oregon when he was a teen. He graduated from Oregon Episcopal School in 1967, then received a B.A. from Whitman College in education and history and pursued some graduate studies at the University of Oregon. He moved to Central Oregon in 1974 and now lives in Bend, running a ranch, with his wife Libby and two children, son B.J. and daughter Taylor. [3]
Westlund was arrested for drunk driving and possession of cocaine in 1982. He credits that incident with convincing him to stop drinking. He would later serve in the Oregon Legislature with the arresting officer, Rep. John Minnis.[4]
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[edit] Elected office
In 1996, Westlund won election to the Oregon House of Representatives as a Republican. During four terms in the House, his most notable work was done as co-chair of the budget-writing Joint Ways and Means Committee, to which he was appointed in 2001. He unsuccessfully argued for the creation of a state sales tax as a means to balance the budget during a revenue shortfall.
That same year, he co-sponsored legislation to create the Oregon Cultural Trust,[5] and subsequently came under fire for seeking to head the newly created organization. He now serves on the Cultural Trust's board.[6]
In 2003, Westlund was appointed to the Oregon Senate to complete the term of retiring Sen. Bev Clarno. He ovewhelmingly won election to that same seat in 2004, gaining the local Republican nomination and facing only token opposition on the ballot. [7]
During the 2004 election, Westlund endorsed Oregon Ballot Measure 36 (2004), which outlawed same-sex marriage in Oregon.[8] He subsequently endorsed a bill in the legislature to allow civil unions. That effort was defeated in part thanks to opposition by Speaker of the House Karen Minnis, wife of the officer who arrested Westlund in 1982.
Westlund supports abortion rights and access to the morning-after pill. During his time in the legislature, however, he has supported restrictions on abortion. In 2003 he backed HB2547 and in 2005 he backed HB2532. Both would have created a 24-hour waiting period for women wishing to receive an abortion and required doctors to read a statement to patients about abortion. In 2005, he also supported HB2605, a parental notification bill, and HB2020, which would have expanded Oregon's criminal homicide law, redefining "human beings" to include fetuses and embryos at any stage of development.
[edit] 2006 Governor's race
On February 14, 2006, Westlund dropped his Republican registration, registered as an independent and declared his candidacy for Governor. While Westlund gathered over 36,000 signatures (18,386 valid signatures required by August 29, 2006 for ballot access), he withdrew from the race for governor on August 10, 2006, citing that he did not want to be a spoiler in the election[9].
