DRESDEN, Maine — District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau said Thursday he’s accustomed to close races.
Rushlau, a Republican, had another one this year, as he won by an 812-vote margin out of nearly 68,000 votes that were cast. The Democratic candidate — David Sinclair of Bath — conceded defeat on Thursday.
“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.
He thanked his volunteers, municipal workers, his wife and baby boy, and Rushlau in his concession statement.
Sinclair said while the results were close 34,304 to 33,492, he would not ask for a recount.
“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,” Sinclair said in his written statement.
Rushlau of Dresden was appointed to the district attorney post in June 1993 by then-Gov. John McKernan, a Republican. He won a close election to the post in 1994, and he was re-elected in 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010. He was unopposed in the 2010 race.
Rushlau had previously served as an assistant district attorney in Androscoggin County and then Sagadahoc County beginning in 1981.
Sinclair, a Democrat, is completing his second consecutive three-year term on the Bath City Council. He’s run a private law practice in Bath for four years. He returned to law school after 16 years of running a software development company and being a computer consultant.