NORWAY — Democrat Dennise Dullea Whitley of Norway has announced her candidacy for the Maine House of Representatives in District 71, which includes the towns of Norway, Waterford, West Paris and Sweden.

Whitley is a Maine Clean Election candidate.

Whitley credits her lifelong interest in politics to being chosen in her junior year as Norway’s delegate to Maine Dirigo Girls State, a program of American Legion Auxiliaries.

She graduated from Norway High School and attained a bachelor of science degree and a master’s degree in health management and policy from the University of New Hampshire.

Whitley works with her husband, Barry Allen, in their business, Lost Corner Land Surveying.

After working her way up from a switchboard operator at Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, she held management positions at three Maine hospitals. In 1995, Whitley worked as the executive director of the Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Red Cross in Tucson, returning to Maine in 1999 to take the position of government relations director for the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

She has contributed her time as a strategic planning facilitator to the Norway Memorial Library, the Norway Historical Society, the Western Maine Art Group and the Leavitt’s Mills Free Health Center in Buxton. She serves on the Board of the Western Maine Art Group and volunteers for the Norway Historical Society.

Whitley and her husband live in the Yagger neighborhood in Norway with their rescue cats. The couple are foster parents for Responsible Pet Care.

Family members include a son, Mark, five grandchildren and two adult grandchildren.