'Survivor' champ Boneham enters politics

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Rupert Boneham, winner of the 2004 season of "Survivor," announced he is seeking the Libertarian Party nomination for governor in Indiana.

Boneham, 47, of Washington Township, said he is a man of the people whose priorities would be more jobs, better schools and maintaining correctional facilities.

"I hope Indiana is ready for someone like me that does care and does understand what we are going through," Boneham said Saturday at a pizza party thrown at an Indianapolis VFW post.

The Indianapolis Star said the event jibed with the image of a free spirit with a penchant for tie-dye Boneham projected on "Survivor." Boneham won $1 million on the show and has spent a large chunk of it on his foundation for at-risk teenagers.

If nominated for the 2012 gubernatorial race, Boneham would likely face front-runners such as Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Pence and Democrat John Gregg, a former Indiana speaker of the house, the Star said.