She’s not a long shot says Teresa Ottesen, a 25-year-old single mother and college student who has filed for the Republican primary for governor.

“Not in Arizona,” she says. “Anything’s possible in Arizona.”

Asked for a description of her place on the political spectrum, Ms. Ottesen said, “There’s no reason to have a label at this point in time.”

To date, Ms. Ottesen, who attends Prescott College and works at Montezuma Lodge near Flagstaff, is the fourth Republican to file for the governor’s race, and if Senate President Ken Bennett, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, who currently is registered as an independent, and Mary Peters, former director of the Arizona Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, jump on the elephant’s back, Arizona Republican voters could be looking at a seven-or eight-way primary in 2006.

Marilyn Quayle has not publicly taken her name off the roster of possible candidates for governor, and Gary Tupper of Gilbert has changed his filing from independent to Republican.

Says Ms. Ottesen, “We’re all just candidates right now; we’re not contenders.”

She said she became interested in politics while attending Mesa Community College, and she admires former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, a Republican, for his work with the Boys and Girls Clubs, for which she volunteers.

“I just kind of fell into that party,” she said of her Republican registration.

Ms. Ottesen said older Republicans are concerned about her age and lack of political experience, but they are signing her petitions and contributing $5 to her Clean Elections campaign.

“It’s not about age; it’s about issues,” she said. “There’s a group of the population who would like to see somebody involved in politics who’s not a professional politician. And that’s what we have right now — a professional politician in office.”

Ms. Ottesen said she has support among 18-25-year-olds, whom she encouraged to become more involved in politics. “I believe that if young people become more engaged in politics, they’re more likely to vote.”

When you look at who’s running our state, who’s running our local governments, it’s an older population — most of them are over 45,” she said.

At the same time, Ms. Ottesen said, there should be a state program for older residents who earn too much to qualify for AHCCCS, the state’s Medicaid program, but do not receive health benefits from their employer.

“AHCCCS is an all-or-none program,” she said. “You and get on it or you can’t get on it.”

All-Day Kindergarten For All

In other comments about Governor Napolitano, Ms. Ottesen said the governor’s full-day kindergarten program should include all children, especially those of middle-class parents. “Our governor’s not doing anything for them,” she said.

On higher education, Ms. Ottesen, who has attended Arizona State University, said the state’s four-year colleges have become too research oriented and she opposes the branch of the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix.

“We need more teachers. We need more nurses. We need more firemen,” she said. “Yes, we need more doctors, [but] medical school is not going to produce highly qualified teachers.”

Ms. Ottesen joined other Republicans critical of billboards with the governor’s picture on them to promote tourism and safety. “It looks more like she’s campaigning with state funds,” she said.

The mother of a 5-year-old son, Ms. Ottesen fielded questions about abortion and same-sex marriage in an Aug, 25 interview.

“Personally, it’s not a decision I would make,” she said of abortion, adding that she favors a 48-hour waiting period before having the procedure. “Nothing’s going to change in two days, but your life can change within a few minutes after having an abortion.”

Ms. Ottesen said she supports equal rights for gays, except marriage. “Marriage is between a woman and a man.”

Illegal immigration is a federal issue, she said, but something needs to be done at the state level.

“It’s become a state issue when you have illegal immigrants and their children are in the public school system,” Ms. Ottesen said.

She would not comment on taxes, other than to say she favors tax incentives for companies that would not otherwise locate in Arizona, excluding large chain stores.

While Ms. Ottesen says she doesn’t consider herself a long shot for governor, history alone poses bad odds for former Senate President John Greene and current president Mr. Bennett.

Not since 1938, when Bob (R.T.) Jones was elected governor, has a sitting legislator won the state’s top executive office, and only two governors served in the Legislature before their election. They were Evan Mecham, who won 18 years after leaving the Senate, and Jane D. Hull, who became governor in 1997 after leaving the House in 1993.

As secretary of state, Mrs. Hull replaced Fife Symington mid-term in 1997, and was elected to a full term in 1998. Mr. Mecham won a three-way race with Democrat Carolyn Warner and independent Bill Schulz in 1986.

In all, 42 state lawmakers have run for governor. —