LEWISTON – Democrat Peggy Rotundo hopes to reclaim the state Senate seat she held for four terms, starting more than two decades ago.

Peggy Rotundo Submitted photo

“I’m really excited about this,” Rotundo said Wednesday. “We’re really at a pivotal point as we come out of the pandemic.”

She said she is looking forward to helping struggling families in both the city and the state by working with colleagues from both parties to find solutions that will improve lives.

Widely respected in the State House for fairness and bipartisanship, the 72-year-old former lawmaker said she aims “to try to bring people together,” by building bridges with those who are not natural allies.

Despite obvious political divisions, Rotundo said, it is possible to find middle ground. “It just takes a lot of work.”

Rotundo served in the Senate from 2000 until 2008, when term limits forced her to give up the seat. She ran for a state House seat instead, holding it for another four terms, before stepping down in 2016.

Lewiston’s current state senator, Democrat Nate Libby, cannot run for reelection because of term limits. He has served in the post since 2014.

Libby said Wednesday she is “a talented, dedicated, experienced lawmaker and Lewiston will receive top-notch representation and constituent service from Peggy should she be elected next year.”

Rotundo, who would be running in the newly redrawn 21st district, which leans Democratic, is unlikely to face any internal opposition from within her party’s ranks.

No Republicans or independents have entered the contest yet. Given Rotundo’s electoral track record, they would likely face a tough time defeating her.

Rotundo is a former co-chair of the Legislature’s appropriations panel that makes many of the difficult choices about how to divvy up state cash.

Before she ran for the Legislature, Rotundo served as an at-large member of the Lewiston School Committee for eight years, chairing the panel for the last four.

Born in New York, Rotundo is a 1971 Mount Holyoke College graduate who worked as an administrator at Bates College from 1978 until her retirement this summer.

Rotundo said that retirement will give her more time “to knock on all those doors” and listen to what people have to say about what needs to be done in Augusta.