A: Public safety is my primary job. That means using my role to help Cumberland County’s residents to be safe and do well. My quest since day one has been to rebuild our system to one that protects public safety while being grounded in compassion, consistency, fairness, and dignity. This means addressing historic injustices and shifting our approach in resolving new cases.

I work tirelessly for systemic change because that is what truly keeps our communities safe in the long-term. The voters chose reform in 2022 — we are well on our way, but there is still much work ahead of us. We will need to substantially remake our internal operations in order to deliver the full measure of reform Cumberland County residents need and deserve.

A: I have partnered with Portland’s Homeless Services Center (HSC) and Portland Police to allow unhoused individuals with minor criminal law violations to stay at the HSC instead of being criminally charged. There, they are connected with resources including medical help, recovery, and other services that are designed to lead to wellness - as well as a housing navigator.

Since implementation of this policy, over 400 people have been housed from the HSC. We also work with state and nonprofit partners to help ensure that supports and services are readied so that people who have been unsheltered are released from jail with help. Otherwise, they often return to jail. These partnerships are unusual for a prosecutor’s office, but essential in building a safety net that is responsible to individual needs with the goal of real public safety.

A: I have built a brand new Restorative Justice (RJ) program, which is on track to handle 500+ cases annually at no additional cost to the taxpayer.

This new program replaces the former one which only handled a maximum of 144 cases per year during the pandemic.

Last month (April 2026) my office sent over 10% of all cases to RJ and the Portland Recovery Community Center diversion programs.

Most such cases end in a dismissal of criminal charges, sometimes with restitution where appropriate.

Restorative Justice is a proven, progressive approach to reducing future criminal conduct by helping low-level, first-time offenders accept responsibility and reconnect to their community.

It focuses on repairing harm, giving victims a voice, and rebuilding relationships rather than just imposing punishment. It holds people who caused harm directly accountable and addresses root causes of their behavior, which research shows can reduce reoffending.

A: We are currently tracking possible cases and hoping to move forward soon, because we don’t tolerate secret police in Maine and no one is above the law.

I’ve made sure my office is prepared to handle the unique legal challenges presented when charging a federal agent, by building partnerships with those with this specific expertise. I’ve also partnered with the County Sheriff who has agreed to handle investigations of cases involving ICE. I’ve met with the ACLU, which continues to gather evidence to file civil cases.

As with all cases, prosecutors cannot bring charges without victims speaking with law enforcement, a perpetrator being identified, and a police report filed. My office has actively encouraged ICE victims to file a police report so that we can consider pursuing charges. But people traumatized by the actions of ICE are understandably skittish about trusting law enforcement, another truly terrible outcome of the actions of masked agents acting outside of the law.

The bottom line is that I am committed to this work. We are actively working to prosecute these difficult cases as willing victims come forward and perpetrators are identified. 

A: Under my leadership, Cumberland County is taking the lead in taking cases of sex assault seriously. I treat every sexual assault case we prosecute as the serious violent crime it is—centering survivors’ safety and dignity, using trauma-informed, survivor-centered practices, and holding offenders fully accountable.

In my first term: we began inventorying and testing the sexual assault kit backlog; we created a specialized Sex Crimes Prosecution Team to finally prioritize these cases; and we expanded resources for victims and witnesses.

We secured $2.5 million in federal funding to finally test the backlog of ~500 sexual assault kits, becoming the first county in Maine to do so and fulfilling one of my 2022 campaign promises.

Our oldest kit sat for 39 years, meaning someone has been waiting 39 years for a follow-up on their case. Now the kits will finally be tested and cold-case investigations will follow. The DNA results may help solve other serious cases. 

In my first term, I created a Sex Crimes Prosecution Team to reprioritize these important cases, take more sex assault cases to trial, and to adopt best practices to win them.

In my next term, we’ll complete our work on backlogged rape kit cases, and revamp our domestic violence assault approach.

I also expanded the Victim & Witness Advocate (VWA) program to give victims information and confidence to navigate the judicial process. I also created a dedicated space for victims and witnesses at our historic courthouse — the “Lois Galgay Reckitt Room” — so victims can wait to appear in court without encountering perpetrators.

A: I have created a new diversion program with the Portland Recovery Community Center. It is intended to build trust and connections to recovery resources, and open the door to recovery for people with minor criminal charges. Participation in the PRCC program will often result in a case being dismissed, to strongly encourage someone needing recovery to attend. This program is a key part of expanded diversion options.

In addition, as a long term Treatment Court prosecutor, I am very supportive of our Veterans Treatment Court and Adult Treatment Court. I’ve seen people at their lowest point learn to trust themselves and restore themselves to their communities and families. I know people do recover. My prosecutor now serving on that court also is a true believer in these programs, we meet frequently, and I know he is fully engaged with the treatment team and judge who oversees it.

But often people apply who do not meet court-determined criteria for the level of their addiction or assessed recidivism, although they clearly struggle with addiction and/or mental health challenges. This means they are turned down by the only person who makes those choices - the judge - but they still need real help. In Cumberland County, if people are turned down for Treatment Court, this is almost always why. (The concern is that people with very maladaptive thinking have been shown to inadvertently teach problematic behaviors to those dealing with less of a challenge – so only people with “high risk, high needs” are permitted to be admitted to the treatment court.) 

To address this gaping hole, I and my treatment court prosecutor are working on an alternative for people who don’t quite meet the level of care required for admission to our existing treatment court. This alternative would be modeled on Maine’s Tribal Wellness Court. The Wellness Court does not mix the participants into one group, so the primary concern that leads to people being turned away from a regular drug court is nonexistent. Instead, the Wellness Court surrounds participants with their own natural supports, helping them grow into recovery organically and strengthening their accountability and relationships with the people who know them and love them. 

I am committed to using the power we have as prosecutors to help families and individuals access recovery. 

A: No, it’s not true. I support universal healthcare.

I have been disappointed by how many spurious rumors about me and my positions have circulated during this campaign. The latest we've heard is that I do not support universal healthcare.

Let me be clear: I support universal healthcare.

It is undeniable that passing universal healthcare would help enormously with issues of mental health, substance use disorder, and improving the community's general well-being. All of these things are related to crime prevention, so this in issue that would absolutely impact our day-to-day work in the DA's office.

I have a long track record of public service, having served on my local town council, my local sewer board, and various other boards for decades before becoming District Attorney. This means I've said a lot of things in meetings, on television, and on the radio.

If my words are being taken completely out of context to create a false narrative about what I believe, that is profoundly disappointing behavior to see in a Democratic Party primary.

Everyone knows that I support universal healthcare.

Intend to have a race based on the issues, not based on smears.

A: For over 2 years, I took on every case where someone's competency is in question. On Cumberland County's Mental Health Docket, I have fought to find creative ways to get people the help they need to stay out of trouble, recognizing that our system is absolutely failing us all.

People struggling with serious mental illness need help, not a jail cell. Nurses deserve protection, not a regular risk of assault. And convictions won't keep people struggling with mental illness from cycling back down towards being dangerous to themselves and others, and back at the ER.

During my first year as DA, I witnessed deep flaws in the way mental health challenges within Maine's criminal system are addressed. Some people are evaluated by State Forensics for their competency over and over again - dozens of times in some cases - only to return to the same condition that brought them into the system: untreated, and sometimes a danger to themselves and others, and often winding up back in the ER.

This is a systemic challenge and unfortunately the criminal system doesn’t have the tools right now to keep nurses safe, and the state and federal governments have decided not to invest in keeping people who are mentally ill well. We work hard to charge all these cases, but charges are not going to solve the problem when the people committing the assault are mentally ill.

That's why I'm heading up a working group to try to make our statutes not just criminalize assaults on nurses, but actually help people before it comes to that. Please feel free to contact me as that work gets underway - we hope to have recommendations to the Legislature in late fall.

A: Protecting victims and witnesses is a critical part of my job as District Attorney. That is why I expanded the Victim & Witness Advocate (VWA) program to give victims information and confidence to navigate the judicial process. I also created a dedicated space for victims and witnesses at our historic courthouse — the “Lois Galgay Reckitt Room” — so victims can wait to appear in court without encountering perpetrators.

A: No, I am in strong support of protest. It has made a huge difference, whether it's in Minnesota or Maine. It's made an impact pushing back against Trump.

I have a job as DA to make sure that people are people following the law, but I also have a responsibility to my community to recognize that our democracy is under attack and good people are going to stand up and object. And we NEED good people to stand up and object.

My office has had to adapt to this issue since the re-election of Donald Trump, and with the realization that our democracy is being attacked from within like never before. We are in totally unique times.

I have been standing with protestors since before the current administration came to power: I co-founded the Brunswick chapter of Indivisible in 2016, I have attended countless protests, and I to have also remonstrated with Susan Collins when she was choosing Brett Kavanaugh over Mainers' interests. My values are very clear.

Regarding some recent cases of criminal trespassing in Sen. Collins’s office, my office had made a decision to dismiss these cases quite some time ago.

A: After growing up in a Republican family, I was pretty turned off from voting altogether in my youth because I knew I wasn’t a Republican. It wasn’t until I lived with my union member grandfather in New York City in my 20s that I registered as a Democrat. He persuaded me that Republicans do not support working people. So I registered as a Democrat and have never looked back.

A: The Working Families Party is a grassroots political organization that supports candidates who share their values and goals - including progressive judicial reform.

The WFP was founded in 1998 by a coalition of labor unions, community organizations, and activists. Today their coalition typically includes unions, community groups, racial and economic justice groups, and individual grassroots members.

I am honored to have their endorsement. The Working Families Party shares my goals of progressive reform of our judicial system.

A: From day one, I have run my campaign the way I believe a true Democrat should: focused on ideas and values, always open to dialogue with voters, staying positive and never attacking my opponent, and always honest and informative. However I have been asked to comment on this issue because certain narratives have taken hold that are contrary to my experience.

I terminated her employment after nine months because I discovered that she was secretly organizing her campaign on work time, and was attempting to pull in some of my other employees. After consulting with the state Attorney General, I let her go, among other reasons, because using government resources for political purposes is a violation of Maine’s Mini-Hatch Act. 

I am constrained from speaking about the full circumstances by employment law since this is a personnel issue, and I have not wanted to air this dirty laundry in the press.

I did not terminate her employment simply because she intended to challenge me in this primary. That is not true. I am a true believer in democracy — I co-founded the Brunswick chapter of Indivisible. I would never shy away from a primary challenge.

Email me at sartoris4da@gmail.com