1. Set a select widget's value for a new entry, i.e. default value.
2. Set a select widget's value for an edit form from data pulled via the ad_form query.
The following syntax works for scenario one, but not two:
{state:text(select) {label "State"} {options {$state_list}} {value $state}}
The following syntax works for scenario two, but not one:
{state:text(select) {label "State"} {options {$state_list} {value $state}}}