Otten Announces Candidacy For Governor

SCARBOROUGH (NEWS CENTER) -- Maine businessman Les Otten announced Monday that he is running for governor. Otten is a political newcomer, but he's well known in Maine.

He's the founder of the American Skiing Company and was part owner of the Boston Red Sox for a few years.

Otten says he's ready to take his business experience and apply it to politics.

"I've done some things in the real world that i think can be very helpful to us here in Maine, creating jobs, jobs and jobs. Bringing real world experience to Augusta is what its all about", Otten said during an interview after his announcement.

Ron Schmidt, Associate Professor of Political Science at USM says successful business people have had mixed results jumping into politics .

"It depends a lot upon the individual person's style and their ability to adapt themselves to a very, very different kind of organization. Business and politics, despite the fact that we're talking about lots of money and jobs and such, they're very different kinds of enterprises", he said.

One thing Otten has that most of the other candidates don't have is name recognition.

Schmidt says that can be huge in a race with a crowded field.

Otten joins Waterville Mayor Paul Lepage, Georgetown developer Bruce Poliquin, Maine and Company founder Matt Jacobsen, State Senator Peter Mills and electrician J. Martin Vachon in the race for the Republican nomination.