LEEDS – Former Democratic lawmaker John Nutting of Leeds won Senate District 17 Tuesday, 11,045 to 9,026 over Republican challenger James Simones of Greene.

Nutting, a dairy farmer, took the towns of Leeds, Lisbon, Livermore, Livermore Falls, Mechanic Falls, Sabattus, Turner and Wales, while Simones won Greene and Minot.

Nutting, who previously served 12 years in the Maine Legislature and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 2nd District two years ago, pledged Wednesday to do what he could to tackle tax reform in the next two years.

He said he was disappointed in Gov. John Baldacci’s disregard of the passage of Question 1 in June, in which voters approved the state paying 55 percent of education.

That is the law and has to be funded 55 percent now, not in five or six years, Nutting said.

As for winning the Senate race, Nutting said he was “very honored to earn support of people in Senate District 17 race.”

“I’m also proud that votes came from Democrats, independents and Republicans,” Nutting said.

He spoke to Simones early Wednesday after he conceded the race, Nutting said.

“Mr. Simones and I ran a clean election,” he said.

Nutting said he was outspent nearly 2-to-1 on the campaign, with Republican Party spending about $30,000.

“They dumped a lot of serious money into the campaign,” he said.

Nutting said the Republican Party did a couple nasty mailings against him, making Simones, who is a nice guy, look bad.

“Jim and I had agreed to run a nice race,” Nutting said.

Simones said it was a very good race. It was his first political endeavor, Simones said.

“I ran a very clean, very cordial, nothing-personal campaign,” Simones said.

He enjoyed the process, he added, even with the long, tired days, and even though he did not get elected, it was a learning experience.

He, too, said he appreciated all the votes he received from Republicans, Democrats and independent voters.