State Senator Ben Westlund, independent candidate for Oregon Governor, has raised $450,000, and his petition is being circulated by 300 volunteers. He needs 18,356 signatures of registered voters who abstain from the May primary, and is thought likely to succeed. He is about to launch a TV ad for himself, emphasizing that Oregon last elected an independent as Governor in 1930. That candidate, Julius Meyer, is considered by historians to have been a successful governor who helped restore the state’s budget and economy.