Three Democratic candidates will face off in a primary contest for the District 1 Kennebec County commissioner’s seat in June. Patsy Crockett, Pat Paradis and Carl Pease filed papers with the secretary of state’s office by the deadline earlier this month, signaling their intention to run in June.

This is the first time in more than a decade that a commissioner’s race has attracted this much interest.

The winner of the June 14 primary will run against Republican Kristin Clark, of Augusta, in November.

This three-way race is a repeat of the contest in the nomination process that played out last fall. Crockett, Paradis and Pease submitted their names for consideration in October 2015 to the Kennebec County Democratic Committee, which was tasked with finding a replacement on the commission for Beverly Daggett, who died in September. Daggett represented Augusta, Chelsea, China, Manchester, Sidney, Vassalboro and Windsor.

The committee selected Crockett and Paradis and submitted those names to Gov. Paul LePage for consideration. In February, LePage appointed Crockett to serve until the end of this year to complete Daggett’s term.

County commissioners are responsible for the fiscal operations and policy decisions of county government. Jails, courts and prosecuting attorneys fall under the county government umbrella, as do emergency management and public safety functions.

Crockett, 75, said she has experience working in both the private and public sectors, including two terms in the Maine House of Representatives, and has served as a volunteer for more than a dozen organizations. She spent 11 years in association management working as a lobbyist for both the Maine County Commissioners Association and the Maine Sheriffs Association, working to influence public policy.

“I saw that all 16 counties are very different because of the areas they’re in and their economics,” she said. “They need to be different, but there are things that some counties have picked up on that can help other counties.”

Like Crockett, Paradis, 62, has spent time in the Legislature, serving from 1978 to 1994 in the House. During that time, he served in leadership positions, including as assistant majority leader and majority whip. But, he said, the accomplishments of which he is proudest are two proposals that changed Maine law.

Paradis is an Augusta city councilor representing Ward 3, and because of term limits, this is the last year he can serve.

“I have a lot of respect for the other candidates,” he said, “but I want to give the voters a choice.”

While his attention as a legislator and city councilor has been focused on Augusta, Paradis said he’s familiar with the towns of District 1, thanks to his time on patrol as a volunteer with the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office.

Pease, 62, said he sees a role for county government that, if he’s elected, he would work to develop.

“County government gets underused in Maine,” Pease said. “It’s given things to do that the municipalities don’t do.”

Maine law contains a provision that allows counties to do whatever the towns want them to, and that, he said, could be the key to greater rationalization of services.

“There already exists a bureaucracy, so if two or three or more towns want to have code enforcement, the county exists as a place that could offer these services to towns,” he said.

Jessica Lowell can be contacted at 621-5632 or at:

jlowell@centralmaine.com

Twitter: JLowellKJ

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