Here is a press release issues by the Ben Westlund campaign:

Independent Party Cross-Nominates Westlund for State Treasurer
Focus on Fair Elections, Campaign Finance, and Restoring the Initiative

SALEM, Ore. (August 11, 2008) --- State Senator and Democratic nominee for Oregon State Treasurer Ben Westlund (D-Tumalo) has now also received the nomination of the Independent Party of Oregon in his race to be Oregon's next State Treasurer. With more than 23,000 members, the Independent Party of Oregon is the third largest political party in the state and supports candidates who fight for good government and for the rights of citizens.

"Ben Westlund has the right priorities to provide all Oregonians a voice in our political process," said Linda Williams. "He has a record of working for fairness, transparency and access in elections. As State Treasurer, he will be an independent leader we can trust to put the people before corporate interests."

"Westlund's legislative record and experience should appeal to all Oregon voters," said the party's secretary, Sal Peralta. "Ben Westlund is a strong leader on renewable energy. He has worked to lower health care costs, and to increase consumer protections. Our party supports his efforts, and we encourage others to do the same."

"I am honored to have the Independent Party nomination. I support their efforts to safeguard our democracy, including their work to implement campaign finance limits that were enacted by Oregon voters in Measure 47," said Westlund. "The Legislature should refer a constitutional amendment to voters to ensure that political campaign contribution limits are allowed under the Oregon Constitution."

In his last bid for the State Senate in 2004, Westlund received the nominations of the Republican and Democratic parties. He ran for Governor as an independent ("non-affiliated") candidate in 2006 before the Independent Party's formation. He gathered 50,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot, a task complicated by House Bill 2614 of 2005 that made it more difficult for candidates not affiliated with political parties to quality for the ballot on their own.

There is some question as to how Westlund's line on the General Election ballot will read. The Independent Party of Oregon is currently encouraging the Secretary of State to enforce the ballot design statute as written, and to allow candidates who are cross-nominated to have all of their nominations appear on the ballot, as required by law.

"The Independent Party makes a strong argument that the statutory changes in 1995 require that party nominations accepted by a candidate should appear on that candidate's ballot line," said Westlund. "The statute seems to indicate that both nominations should be printed in this case."

Westlund also supports initiative reform to reduce the influence of out-of-state special interests who want to use Oregon as a testing ground.
"We must restore Oregon's initiative process, so that it can be effectively used by volunteers and grass-roots causes," said Westlund.

"Senator Ben Westlund believes that the initiative system belongs to the people and has supported reforms in the Legislature," said Linda Williams. "As State Treasurer, he will continue to provide a strong voice for democracy to help us move in the right direction."

A retired successful small business owner, Ben now consults with Northwest Professional Management to develop effective, affordable health care delivery systems. He and his wife Libby, who serves on the Mount Bachelor National Ski Patrol, have two children: a son B.J. (20) and a daughter Taylor (15). They live in Tumalo, just outside Bend.

Contact:
Stacey Dycus
541-350-2781
Stacey@benwestlund.com
www.benwestlund.com