Bath Democrat David Sinclair conceded defeat early Thursday afternoon in the race for District Attorney against Republican incumbent Geoffrey Rushlau, R, Dresden.
Sinclair, a longtime member of the Bath City Council, runs a private law practice in Bath, and was conducting his first multi-county political campaign, facing a 20-year incumbent in Rushlau.
After initial results on Wednesday morning showed Sinclair leading narrowly, that slight lead shifted to Rushlau as results from the final outlying towns came in. Unofficial results as of Thursday afternoon showed Rushlau in the lead by 840 votes, out of over 67,000 votes cast, with only Monhegan left to count – a result which gave Rushlau approximately 50.62 percent of the vote to Sinclair’s 49.38 percent.
“We are both honored and humbled to have received the support of more than 33,000 voters throughout the district in this race,” Sinclair said. “I want to personally thank our wonderful volunteers, thank the municipal workers across the four-county district who conducted this election with grace and integrity; thank my opponent, District Attorney Rushlau, for running a fair and positive campaign, and thank all those voters across the district who participated in the process – whether they supported me or Geoffrey. Finally, I want to thank my beautiful wife Lauren and our baby boy Beckett for the encouragement, support, and willingness to embark on the year-long campaign trail with me – I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, have done this alone.”
Addressing the question of a recount in the close election, Sinclair said that he would not request an examination of the ballots.
“In extremely close races such as this one, state law provides for a recount upon the request of a candidate or an affected voter,” Sinclair said. “For races where the outcome is this close, there is no cost to the candidate for such a recount. However, just because it would be free to our campaign doesn’t mean it would be free to the community.
“I do not plan to saddle my neighbors with the costs of a recount which would in all likelihood simply confirm the unofficial count we have today. I respect the process and am comfortable with the result.”
Contacted for comment, Rushlau praised Sinclair for running a quiet and effective campaign and thanked Sinclair for conceding, at least partly out of concern for the taxpayer.
“It would be tempting to ask for a recount because it wouldn’t have cost his campaign and I appreciate that he didn’t,” Rushlau said. “They are very costly and they typically change the numbers in a very small way. With the electronic scanners it’s even less likely that votes would change. It was a reasonable decision on his part and it was good for the taxpayer … I commend him for that.”
Noting this is the fourth time he has been through a closely contested election, Rushlau said he is used to waiting until all the ballots are counted. Now with his sixth term secured, Rushlau said he was not going to spend a lot of time focusing on his victory.
“The problem with this job is that there’s always more work to do, so I’m going right back to work,” he said.
Rushlau thanked everyone who supported him in the campaign. “I’ve been a prosecutor for 34 years. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be in this role, (but) as long as I come into the office with enthusiasm each day and determination to see justice done … It’s the best law job in the world and I absolutely love doing it. I’ve never been in private practice. I’ve always worked for the public in the role of delivering justice. It’s been very satisfying.”
