OXFORD — Richard A. Bennett, R-Oxford, has announced his candidacy for the Maine Senate in District 19.

Bennett served in the Senate from 1996-2004 and from 1990-1994 in the House. In a written statement, he said, “My mission is to restore common sense and common ground to Maine politics.”

“We need to have an economy that puts local, small businesses first, not big transnational corporations. And we need a government that serves the people not itself,” he said.

“As senator, I will work to build infrastructure — including high speed broadband — that will allow rural Maine to flourish not fall behind. I will foster health care solutions that promote healthy living and favor patients, nurses and doctors over bureaucracy, insurance companies and Big Pharma. I pledge to deal openly without partisanship on gnawing societal problems like our opioid epidemic,” he said.

“And we must create a political discourse on a foundation of respect and love for our fellow humans rather than rudeness and hatred.”

In recent years, he has focused on rescuing and building several successful Maine-based businesses that have created dozens of jobs, including: GWI, a telecom and internet service provider based in Biddeford, employing 50 people and now building miles of fiber direct to homes and businesses in western Maine; Quoddy Inc., the premier Maine-made footwear maker employing 20 people in Lewiston; GMI Ratings, an investment research firm in Portland; and ValueEdge Advisors, a firm he founded in 2014 to hold big corporations accountable to their stakeholders.

In his earlier service, Bennett was instrumental in the creation of the University and Community College Center in South Paris (2002) and the Western Maine Veterans Home (1993).

In 2000, he was unanimously elected president of the Senate in a unique power-sharing agreement when the election resulted in a 17-17-1 partisan tie.

He has served on the boards of the Maine Policy Center, Maine Conservation Voters, and Hebron Academy. He is moderator of the First Congregational Church in South Paris.

He lives in Oxford with his wife, Karen, who is a home health therapist. They have two adult children. Bennett enjoys hiking, canoeing, hunting and long-distance running.

Democrat Katherine Branch of South Paris is also seeking the District 19 Senate seat.

The district includes Brownfield, Denmark, Fryeburg, Hiram, Norway, Otisfield, Oxford, Paris and Porter in Oxford County, and Bridgton, Harrison, Naples and Sebago in Cumberland County.

Copy the Story Link