Voters in Hancock and Washington counties on Tuesday leaned heavily toward re-electing Robert Granger for another four years as the top elected prosecutor in the shared district.
The independent from Blue Hill faced perennial candidate Steven Juskewitch of Dedham, who has sought the office repeatedly in the last 20-plus years, this time as an unenrolled candidate.
Granger had 17,309 votes to Juskewitch’s 5,502 as of 11 p.m. Tuesday, leading his challenger by about a 75% to 25% ratio, according to unofficial results.
Like others in Maine, the district faces limited resources and staffing that strain the state’s criminal justice system, leading to backlogged cases and delayed decisions.
Granger was first elected in 2022 following a career primarily as a trial attorney in state and federal courts in Bangor and Ellsworth.
He has approached the district’s major backlog of cases — around 1,800 when he took office, now down to about 1,600 — by prioritizing prosecution of the most serious crimes. Those include attempted murder, aggravated assault, manslaughter, gross sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, child pornography and fraud, he previously told the Bangor Daily News.
For less serious crimes, he makes use of deferred dispositions. Defendants plead guilty but sentencing is delayed while they meet conditions such as community service or restitution, and original charges are then generally reduced or dismissed.
Juskewitch, a criminal defense attorney based in Ellsworth, wanted to try every possible case in the backlog. He aimed to begin with the oldest cases for incarcerated defendants and work backwards, then repeat the process for unincarcerated defendants.
