Sartoris appears on path to reelection as Cumberland County DA
Stephanie Anderson, left, is running for Cumberland County district attorney against incumbent Jacqueline Sartoris. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)
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PORTLAND — Democratic incumbent Jacqueline Sartoris held a big lead late Tuesday night over challenger Stephanie Anderson in the race for Cumberland County District Attorney.
With 20 of 28 municipalities tallied, Sartoris led by roughly 29,000 votes — 67,155 to 38,258.
Anderson, district attorney for 28 years before retiring in 2018, has framed her campaign as necessary to restore order at the district attorney’s office.
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Anderson, who is now unenrolled but was a registered Republican throughout her six terms as district attorney, said prosecutors and defense attorneys “across the political spectrum” approached her asking her to run. When she entered the race, she said she would drop out if Sartoris lost the primary.
Sartoris, a Democrat from Brunswick, won her party’s nomination in a June primary against one of her former prosecutors.
Elected in 2022, Sartoris has at times been on the defensive as Anderson claimed that the district attorney’s office has been in disarray under Sartoris’ leadership, and that it’s led to a loss of accountability that’s now reflected on Portland streets.
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Sartoris has rebuffed claims from Anderson’s campaign that the county and the district attorney’s office has devolved into turmoil. During a recent forum, she said her office has emphasized “a return to charging” following a pandemic-era dip, and said the county has also seen a decrease in the “return to jail rate,” or people returning to jail within 30 days.
While Anderson said Sartoris was elected as the result of partisan politics, Sartoris continued to cite Anderson’s ties to the Republican Party.
After stepping down in 2018, Anderson served as chair of the Cumberland County Republican Committee, ran for the Maine Senate in 2020 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 blue county.
Anderson, 73, has said the district attorney position should be insulated from politics. She gained support from police unions and a large number of attorneys.
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Tagged: cumberland county, cumberland county district attorney, election 2026
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
