Opinion

A voice for independents?
A Register-Guard Editorial

February 16, 2006

Nearly a quarter of Oregon voters are not registered as members of any political party, even though such voters surrender the right to participate in often-decisive party primary elections. Of those who maintain membership in either the Republican or Democratic parties, many if not most think of themselves as independent-minded voters who reject blind partisan loyalty.

There's a constituency in Oregon that is not wedded to any party, and Ben Westlund may be the one to discover whether it can be mobilized.

Westlund, a state senator from Tumalo, resigned from the Republican Party this week and said he would run for governor as an independent.

It's not impossible for an independent to win - Julius Meier was elected governor as an independent in 1930 - but it's not easy. An independent candidate lacks access to a party's network of activists and donors. The elections process is encrusted with rules that put independents at a disadvantage, including a new law that says voters who participate in partisan primaries can't sign independents' nominating petitions.

That new law will make it tough for Westlund to gather the 18,368 petition signatures he will need to qualify for the general election ballot. Many voters will sign his petitions without knowing that their signatures will be invalidated when they cast votes in the Republican or Democratic primaries. Westlund can count on many of his petition signatures being tossed out, and will need to collect far more than the minimum number required.

Spokesmen for the major parties responded to Westlund's candidacy in a revealing way: The Democrats labeled him as a conservative, and the Republicans called him a liberal. They're both right.

Like a good Democrat, Westlund supports civil-unions legislation for same-sex couples, higher tobacco taxes to support health care programs and state support of efforts to develop renewable energy resources. Like a good Republican, he gets low ratings from the teachers' union and environmental groups.

Put it all together and you've got an independent. Westlund also supports overhauling Oregon election laws to create a nonpartisan primary, in which the top two finishers, regardless of party, would compete in a general election runoff.

Whether Westlund offers a combination of issues, positions and personality that will catch voters' imagination won't be known until the fall. But it's plain that many voters are disenchanted with both parties.

The right candidate could find a powerful political resource in that sentiment.