Candidates for district attorney, at-large councilor make cases at Portland forum
Renee Cordes, deputy editor at MaineBiz, left, moderates a forum Wednesday night between Cumberland County district attorney candidates Stephanie Anderson and Jacqueline Sartoris, right. (Andrew Rice/Staff Writer)
PORTLAND — With just over two weeks until Election Day, candidates seeking votes for Cumberland County district attorney and Portland’s councilor at-large seat attempted at a downtown forum Wednesday to separate themselves on how they would tackle public safety in Maine’s largest city.
The forum, organized by the Bayside Neighborhood Association and Portland Downtown, was recorded in front of a studio audience at the Portland Media Center, where candidates faced a series of questions squeezed into half-hour segments.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
The candidates for Cumberland County district attorney — Stephanie Anderson and incumbent Jacqueline Sartoris — largely picked up where they had left off during recent public appearances, trading jabs regarding each other’s record and how the prosecutor’s office should be handled moving forward.
Sartoris, elected in 2023, has been on the defensive as Anderson continues to claim that the district attorney’s office has been in disarray under Sartoris, and that it’s led to a loss of accountability that’s now reflected on Portland streets.
“People are getting away with too much,” Anderson said.
Sartoris responded that under her tenure, there’s been a drop in the crime rate, and that cases are up 44% compared to when she took office. But, she said, she’s also followed through on reform-minded work regarding sexual assault cases and plans to expand that work to domestic violence.
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While Anderson said Sartoris was elected as the result of partisan politics, Sartoris continued to cite Anderson’s ties to the Republican Party.
Anderson, first elected in 1990 and reelected six times, was a registered Republican throughout her tenure. After stepping down in 2018, she served as chair of the Cumberland County Republican Committee, and has continued to receive support from Maine conservatives.
Democrats have criticized Anderson for running as an unenrolled candidate, calling it an attempt to distance herself from the Republican Party in a deeply Democratic county.
Anderson responded Wednesday that she unenrolled from the Republican Party when she stepped down as district attorney, not when she decided to run for the office.
“There’s a lot about both parties I do not like,” she said.
Anderson, 73, has garnered support from police unions and a number of attorneys. So far, she’s also outraised Sartoris in campaign contributions.
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Anderson said she was “happily” retired when approached by people across the political spectrum to come back.
“Public safety has been shattered, morale destroyed,” she said during her opening statement.
Sartoris said she has emphasized “a return to charging” following a pandemic-era dip, and that the county has also seen a decrease in the “return to jail rate,” or people returning to jail within 30 days.
She also defended the office’s current relationship with law enforcement agencies. Anderson said that if she’s elected, the relationship would improve “the minute I get elected,” and she claimed police are not bringing cases because they don’t think they’ll be prosecuted.
Sartoris said “the numbers show otherwise,” but that reform also means change, including her recent push for agencies to take a harder line on bicycle and pedestrian-related crashes, calling it “a shift for local departments.”
Both also said changes are needed in the approach to mental health to address public safety in Portland. In line with Mayor Mark Dion, Anderson said the county should establish a secure treatment center at the Cumberland County Jail.
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The pair also had a rare agreement on another topic: state legislators need to take action to get more prosecutors on the job in Maine to address the backlogged caseload.
COUNCILOR AT-LARGE
The candidates for Portland’s councilor at-large seat provided a slightly calmer view of the issues at play for one of the three City Council seats up for grabs Nov. 3.
Each candidate attempted to showcase a brand: Atiim Boykin as the social worker and artist who will keep working class people in Portland; Joey Brunelle as a progressive organizer who can expand democracy in the city and get more minds together to solve problems; and Kate Snyder as the civil servant who has the experience and credentials the city needs right now.
Cary Tyson, executive director of Portland Downtown, left, poses a question to the three candidates for Portland’s councilor at-large seat — Atiim Boykin, Joey Brunelle and Kate Snyder — during a forum at the Portland Media Center on Wednesday. (Andrew Rice/Staff Writer)
The questions offered were related to the Bayside Neighborhood Association’s goals, and ranged from public safety and social services to greenspace and tree canopy.
When asked how Portland could share the social service burden across the city, Brunelle said locating the Homeless Services Center on Riverside Street has made it more difficult for people to access services, and that Portland needs smaller scale services in more locations so that a single neighborhood doesn’t see the “full brunt of helping those in need.”
Snyder, the former mayor, said the council previously looked at that idea but it didn’t gain traction due to the cost.
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Boykin, who works in behavioral health, is proposing a collaboration among city nonprofits that streamlines services.
The candidates were also asked about the city’s inclusionary zoning policy and housing production. All candidates said some form of change is needed to unlock more development to address housing affordability.
Snyder said she’s in favor of reverting to the previous policy, which required that large developments include 10% affordable units (the current policy requires 25%).
“We were never meant to have static policy,” she said.
Boykin said the city should “experiment” with the model, perhaps having zones where the policy doesn’t apply. Brunelle would form a task force to look at not just inclusionary zoning, but also permitting and other policies that play a role in housing production.
“Let the experts tell us,” he said. “Expand the circle of voices.”
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The candidates also debated pedestrian safety, how the city could empower neighborhood associations and how they would support equity with greenspace across the city.
The vacant “Midtown” properties in Bayside also came up during the discussion, with Snyder stating that any housing built there should also include greenspace and connectivity to Deering Oaks and other parks.
Brunelle said residents need to “take matters into our own hands” to replicate programs that are working and get city committees to be better utilized. He said in the current era, we need to “go back to a barn-raising form of government.”
In a final plea to voters, Boykin said he’s part of the class of people that are the first to get pushed out when a city gets attractive. He said he wants Portland to be a safe place where the working class can continue to live.
“I’m not running to do the same job, but just a little bit better,” Brunelle said. “I offer a new way of approaching problems, by bringing more people into the process.”
Snyder said the current times call for a candidate who isn’t about politics, and is “serious about serving the community.”
“I’m ready to do that,” she said.
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Tagged: cumberland county district attorney, Portland
Andrew Rice is a staff writer at the Press Herald covering the city of Portland. He's been working in journalism since 2012, joining the Sun Journal in 2017, then the Press Herald in 2026. He lives in. More by Andrew Rice
