Westlund endorsed by Mail Tribune, Yamholl Valley News Register

State treasurer candidate Ben Westlund (D-Tumalo) picked up endorsements from the Medford Mail Tribune and the Yamhill Valley News Register.

Both editorial boards said that Westlund’s experience as a state representative and later a state senator in Salem was important experience to complement the financial experience needed to take on the state treasurer’s office.

The Mail Tribune urged voters to elect the state senator, whom they said had the proper balance of legislative experience and business experience to be the steward of the state’s financial resources.

“While the treasurer's job certainly revolves around money, it is specifically government money for government purposes,” the Mail Tribune editorial board wrote. “A thorough knowledge of how that government operates is part of the job. Both Alley and Westlund are intelligent, capable, well-meaning candidates. But Westlund's government background gives him the edge in this race.”

The Yamhill Valley News Register echoed those sentiments.

“The treasurer is responsible for coordinating and selling state bonds, and meets with Wall Street rating agencies about Oregon's credit worthiness. But it's also a political position because the treasurer works with the Legislature to help set fiscal and investment policy,” the editoral board of the Yamhill Valley News Register wrote. “In our view, Westlund has both the business and legislative experience to make him an effective state treasurer.”

Editorial boards across the state have divided their support in the race. The East Oregonian, The Daily Astoria, and Willamette Week have come out in support of Westlund’s campaign rival, Allen Alley (R-Lake Oswego).

The state’s largest paper, the Oregonian, has yet to come out with an endorsement in the race.