Ben Westlund
Ben Westlund (born September 3, 1949 in Long Beach , California , † March 7, 2010 in Bend , Oregon ) was an American economic analyst and politician . He ran a ranch , but was also involved in mining and farming.
Early years
Ben Westlund was born in Los Angeles County . Nothing is known about his youth. The family moved to Oregon when he was a teenager. He graduated from the Oregon Episcopal School in 1967 . He then received his bachelor's degree in Education and History from Whitman College . He also took several courses at the University of Oregon . In 1974 he moved to Central Oregon . There he settled near Bend, Oregon, where he ran a ranch with his wife Libby and their two children, son BJ and daughter Taylor .
Westlund was arrested in 1982 for drunk driving and possession of cocaine . This event caused him to stop drinking. He later sat with the police officer, Republican John Minnis, who arrested him at the time in the Oregon Legislative Assembly .
Oregon Legislative Assembly
In 1996 Westlund won the Republican election for the Oregon House of Representatives . He was re-elected three times. During his tenure, he was named co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee in 2001. He also campaigned unsuccessfully for the introduction of a state VAT to balance the budget in the event of a loss of income. In the same year he supported legislation to create the Oregon Cultural Trust . As a result, he came under fire for wanting to become the new head of the newly created organization. He served on the board of the Oregon Cultural Trust until he was elected State Treasurer of Oregon. In his last candidacy for the House of Representatives, he defeated Democrat Cylvia Hayes, a businesswoman from Bend who later became Oregon's First Lady during the third and fourth terms of Governor John Kitzhaber .
Westlund was appointed to the Oregon Senate in 2003 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Senator Bev Clarno. He won the 2004 election for the same Senate seat. He even won the democratic nomination before the election and therefore only had a symbolic opposition on the ballot. He represented the 27th district in the Senate, which comprised most of Deschutes County including the city of Bend. During the 2004 election, Westlund campaigned for the Ballot Measure 36 , which banned same-sex marriage in Oregon. He later learned that the research approaches of those in favor of Measure 36, on whom he had relied, had been rejected by the serious researchers. As a result, he personally apologized to the researchers and expressed regret that they had supported this measure. He then supported a bill in the legislature that allowed registered partnerships . This effort was partly thwarted by the opposition of Speaker of the House Karen Minnis, wife of the police officer who arrested Westlund in 1982. The Legislation on Registered Partnerships was later revived, passed by the Legislature in 2007 and entered into force in 2008.
Westlund was a pro-choice advocate and supported access to the morning-after pill. However, during his time in the legislature, he endorsed some restrictions on abortion. In 2003 he supported House Bill 2547 and 2005 House Bill 2532. Both bills would have resulted in a 24-hour waiting period for women trying to have an abortion, and doctors would have to read a statement about abortion to patients. Westlund also supported House Bill 2605 in 2005 , a bill to notify parents in the event of an abortion of a daughter who is not yet of legal age, and House Bill 2020, which would have expanded Oregon criminal law on manslaughter by including the term human of the fetus and embryo would be enlarged at any stage of development.
Candidacy for governor of Oregon
On February 14, 2006, Westlund resigned from the Republican Party, registered as an independent, and declared his candidacy for governor of Oregon. Westlund was able to collect over 36,000 signatures. Up to August 29, 2006, 18,386 valid signatures were required to be eligible for election. Despite the fact that he was eligible for election, he gave up his candidacy on August 10, 2006 because he did not want to be a spoiler in the election .
State Treasurer of Oregon
After joining the Democratic Party, it was speculated that Westlund would run against incumbent Republican Senator Gordon Smith . However, Westlund announced on October 3, 2007 at a press conference in the presence of Governor Ted Kulongoski that he would run for the post of State Treasurer of Oregon. He won the Democratic primary and then defeated his rival candidate Allen Alley in the November 2008 elections. Westlund took his oath of office on January 5, 2009. Westlund was one of the first statewide incumbents to be nominated by the Independent Party of Oregon .
Health problems and death
Westlund was diagnosed with bronchial carcinoma in 2003 . He then underwent surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy . Although the cancer had subsided for some time, Westlund passed away on March 7, 2010, before the end of his tenure as State Treasurer of Oregon.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Oregon State Treasurer Ben Westlund, Office of the State Treasurer, July 31, 2008
- ^ Petitioners expect to suspend law recriminalizing pot , The Oregonian, October 4, 1997, p. A1
- ↑ a b Sinks, James: Independent Westlund switches to Democrat ( Memento of September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), The Bend Bulletin, December 12, 2006
- ↑ The Wild Card? Source Weekly, November 10, 2005 ( Memento of May 12, 2006 on the Internet Archive ), Wayback Machine
- ^ Oregon Cultural Trust: History of the Oregon Cultural Trust
- ^ Citizens Against Government Waste
- ↑ Jaquiss, Nigel: Oregon First Lady Cylvia Hayes' Undisclosed Third Marriage Was to 18-Year-Old Immigrant , Willamette Week, Oct. 8, 2014
- ^ Deschutes County, Oregon General Election Nov. 2, 2004
- ↑ Measure 36 - Arguments in Favor
- ^ The Yale Herald - November 12, 2004 - Gay marriage critics misuse Yale study ( Memento December 7, 2004 on the Internet Archive ), Wayback Machine
- ^ Barton, Bridget: Paying It Forward , brainstormnw.com
- ↑ Relating to information that a health care provider must provide to a female at least 24 hours before performing an abortion in order to obtain the female's informed consent to the abortion; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 435.496
- ↑ Relating to the reporting of information about abortion; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 432,333 and 435,496
- ↑ Relating to notification to a parent prior to performing an abortion on a minor
- ↑ Relating to establishing an unborn child as the legal victim of a crime that results in harm to the unborn child; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 163.005, 163.095, 163
- ↑ Sinks, James: Westlund launches bid to be governor , The Bulletin, Feb.15, 2006
- ↑ Ben Westlund Withdraws From Oregon Governor's Race , Salem-News.com, August 10, 2006
- ^ Rainey, Sherry: Financial meltdown figures into Oregon treasurer's race , The Oregonian, September 25, 2008
- ↑ Treasurer Westlund succumbs to cancer | kgw.com | KGW News | Portland, Oregon
- ↑ Lehman, Chris: Westlund Loses Battle With Cancer ( Memento of the original from July 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Capitol Currents, March 7, 2010
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Westlund, Ben |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American business analyst, businessman, and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 3, 1949 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Long Beach , California |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 7, 2010 |
| Place of death | Bend , Oregon |