The politician indicated community leaders support his representation of the district.

LEEDS – Dairy farmer and former state Senator John Nutting, 54, is running for state Senate District 17, Nutting announced Friday.

District 17 includes the towns of Greene, Leeds, Lisbon, Livermore, Livermore Falls, Mechanic Falls, Minot, Sabattus, Turner and Wales.

Two years ago Nutting ran as a Democratic candidate in the U.S. House primary race. Before that Nutting served in the state Senate for six years. Prior to that he served in the House of Representatives. Issues he focused on included getting more school funding for area towns and passing environmental laws.

“Wherever I go in the district, Democrats, independents and Republicans have been asking me, ‘Are you going to run? You did a great job in Augusta,'” Nutting said in a prepared statement.

Nutting indicated community leaders support his representation of the district. “People want meaningful, significant property tax relief now, and John understands this,” Leeds selectman Gerry Burgess said in the statement.

If elected, Nutting said he’ll work on issues important to him during his 12 years in the Legislature, including keeping the Androscoggin River clean. “There has been some legislation proposed during my absence that could potentially harm the progress we made cleaning up the river, which has concerned me,” Nutting said.

He said other issues important to him include keeping workers compensation rates at the national average to keep and attract jobs, fair school funding and affordable health care. “These are critical issues to this area, and I will continue to fight for them,” Nutting said.

Senate District 17 includes a majority of Nutting’s former Senate District 20, with the addition of Mechanic Falls. “Mechanic Falls voted overwhelmingly for 1-A last November; they want property tax relief and my voting record has consistently supported that,” said Nutting.