Today is Election Day, and California voters will go to the polls and decide whether to vote eBay's twenty-third employee into office. Steve Westly is running for the office of State Controller in California against conservative republican state Senator Tom McClintock. Westly's campaign Web site brags of his business experience and proudly displays a photo of him in front of a colorful eBay sign.

Westly joined eBay in 1997 as VP of Marketing and Business Development. "From the moment they arrived at eBay, Steve Westly and his team dreamed of the Big Deal," wrote Adam Cohen in his book, "The Perfect Store: Inside eBay." Westly was instrumental in forging eBay's first deal with AOL, a six-month, $750,000 agreement that may have helped prevent AOL from getting into online auctions.

Westly went on to head eBay's international operations, before retiring in 2000. Politics is not a new area for Westly. He has held policy positions in local, state and federal government and served four terms representing California on the Democratic National Committee. In 2000, he and his wife created the Steve and Anita Westly Foundation, a charitable organization focused on education, youth, health care, immigration and global security.

The last Field Poll before Tuesday's election showed Westly gaining momentum, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

http://www.westly2002.com