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Monday, March 8, 2010

Politics State Treasurer: Who Will Step Up to Westlund's Seat?

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 6:17 PM

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A ceremony at the State Capitol building in Salem tomorrow at sunrise will honor the life and service of Oregon's state treasurer, Ben Westlund, who died Sunday morning from lung cancer. I never met Ben, but Jeff Mapes at the Oregonian has a moving piece about Westlund's up-and-down life (he was a businessman, a recovering alcoholic, a Republican and a Democrat) which culminated in a legislative career that won him widespread respect. Give it a read.

While Salem is setting up the memorial ceremony, however, politicians are scrambling to figure out who will replace the late treasurer. As OPB put it, "The death of Oregon state Treasurer Ben Westlund from lung cancer Sunday morning came at an especially awkward time. " The filing deadline for the treasurer's seat is this Wednesday at 5 PM and suddenly the state is facing an open race.

Carla Axtman at BlueOregon gives a rundown of the scuttlebutt on who might run: Rick Metsger? Steve Novick? Ted Wheeler? Who could fill Westlund's bipartisan shoes?

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