Previous Offices Held
Brunswick Town Councilor, 4 terms, 2000-2007; Maine House, 2014 , lost; Cumberland County District Attorney, 2022-present
Top Three Priorities
1. Public safety that ensures accountability and repair. This includes addressing root causes of crime like addiction, poverty, and mental health. 2. Continue modernizing office practices and build on new partnerships that responsibly divert appropriate cases in order to focus limited prosecutor resources towards persistent criminal conduct and serious crime. 3. Complete investigations and prosecutions of our county’s backlogged sex assault kits through our $2.5 million federal grant.
Why are you running?
My goal as DA is a truly safe community. Prosecutors have the power to shape lives. Every case we touch can bring accountability that results in redemption, recovery, and healing. As the first Democratic DA in 30 years, I’ve already achieved real results. In my next term, we will complete groundbreaking work prioritizing sex assault crimes and continue expanding opportunities that help defendants move through accountability towards recovery and support.
What is the biggest challenge facing your town/county? The biggest opportunity?
As Maine’s hub we attract many, including those needing help. The Trump administration is cutting public benefits and pitting us against one another, fraying our well-being and undermining public safety. We’ve worked with many partners to help move over 400 people off the street and into housing since 2023 by emphasizing accountability with opportunity, but people with persistent addiction and mental health disorders require more. We have options, but looming federal cuts will set us back.
If you could change one thing about how the town/county functions, what would it be and why?
Those whose unmet mental health needs are the root of criminal conduct pose a serious challenge to our public safety and basic humanity. Jail and the criminal system should not be the only open door for those with untreated and unsafe mental health disorders. But it is most often what Maine offers. I personally took on every competency case in our county to be able to advocate for change. As a result, legislators asked me to help lead a working group to propose changes to Maine’s statutes.
Do you support more development – i.e. more housing construction and business building in your town/county? Why or why not?
I support more housing and small businesses in Cumberland County. Housing is a human right, and we know access to housing prevents crime. As a Maine Senior Planner and town councilor, I developed policies to build communities while protecting wildlife. I know we can meet housing and business needs and keep what makes Maine special. To do that, we must embrace a strong public role, because the goal of profit-seeking has too often proven inconsistent with fully meeting the public interest.