Familiar face joins DA race – but with new party affiliation

A familiar candidate has decided to throw his hat into the ring again in the race for District Attorney of Hancock and Washington counties.

But this time, it comes with a twist.

Steve Juskewitch has decided to run as a Democrat.

The Dedham resident has run for the post three times – in 2002, 2006 and 2010 – first as a Republican challenger to Michael Povich and then as an independent against Povich and his Democratic successor, current D.A. Carletta “Dee” Bassano. Bassano has said she does not intend to seek re-election.

2014 will be Juskewitch’s first trip down the aisle with the Democratic Party.

Juskewitch said Monday (echoing his rivals) that serving as a prosecutor is fairly devoid of partisan politics and that running as a Democrat “just makes sense” to him. He also said he wants to avoid creating a situation this fall in which a candidate could win with less than 50 percent of the vote.

“I’ve never been that thrilled about three-candidate races in November, even though I’ve been responsible for a few of them,” Juskewitch said. “It’s real tough for an independent to win.”

He joins a race that already has three other announced candidates. Paul Cavanaugh and Bill Entwisle, both assistant D.A.’s under Bassano, have announced they intend to run – Cavanaugh as a Republican and Entwisle as a Democrat. Matt Foster, a Republican who ran against Bassano in 2010, also has indicated he plans to run again in the GOP primary.

There still is time for any other potential candidates to decide to join the race. The filing deadline for running in the primaries this year is March 17, while independent candidates have until June 2 to file papers for the general election.

Bill Trotter

About Bill Trotter

A news reporter in coastal Maine for more than 20 years, Bill Trotter writes about how the Atlantic Ocean and the state's iconic coastline help to shape the lives of coastal Maine residents and visitors. He writes about fisheries, marine-related topics, eastern coastal Maine communities and more for the BDN. He lives in Ellsworth. Follow him on Twitter at @billtrotter.