AUGUSTA, Maine — York County political figures clashed Friday during a strange hearing at which the county’s Republican chair suggested her own party’s candidate for sheriff colluded with the Democratic incumbent, something both of them denied.
The qualifications of the candidate, David Corbett of Lyman, are being formally challenged by York County Republican Party Chair Heidi Sampson, who said she initially believed his candidacy was a joke. She referenced rumors that Corbett is a friend of Sheriff William King and was only running to divert votes from independent candidate Brian Pellerin.
“Why would an almost 75-year-old retired individual who has not served in law enforcement in nearly 30 years, who has never won an election despite multiple attempts and who resides part time in Florida suddenly seek the office of York County sheriff?” she asked at the hearing run by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office in Augusta.
A decision is expected next week. The six-hour hearing was surreal at times, full of non sequiturs and cutting remarks. Corbett asked one witness to recount a decades-old incident in which the pair happened upon a “partially dead” cat in the road and took it to an incinerator. Corbett’s witness said he had once told Sampson she was “not acting like a very godly woman.”
Sampson noted Corbett served on the county’s board of visitors, surmising that he was running to help King win. Corbett called that theory “totally fabricated.” Reached by phone, King called it “mendacious” and said he had not spoken to Corbett in a long time.
“I find that really disturbing, that she would accuse me of that type of sinister activity,” King said.
Corbett, in turn, suggested Sampson had sabotaged his campaign in a way that undermined the Republican Party. Sampson admitted she did not think a Republican could win the sheriff’s race in the heavily Democratic-leaning county. Pellerin, who lives in Dayton and serves as the No. 2 to Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce, stood a better chance, she said.
Bellows’ office held the hearing to address challenges to Corbett’s place on the ballot filed by Sampson and Pellerin, who attacked Corbett’s candidacy largely on the basis that he had never held a supervisory role in law enforcement for two years as required by Maine law.
Corbett pushed an expansive definition of “supervisory,” arguing that various one-off, informal and temporary work duties counted. Sampson and Pellerin called witnesses who worked with Corbett throughout his career and testified that Corbett had no supervisory roles during his time as a Saco police officer or while working for the sheriff’s office.
Corbett occasionally questioned witnesses’ motives and noted their political opposition to him. York County Commissioner Donna Ring, who served as an administrative assistant for the sheriff’s office between 1980 and 2020, said Corbett was unqualified at a party meeting.
He took issue with her weighing in at a meeting which he did not attend as he was in Florida, where he maintains a winter residence, arguing she had defamed him and pushed a “qualification delusion” that has been circulating around the county.
“People are still entitled to speak their opinion, which is what I did,” she said.
Corbett brought only one witness to the hearing: Gary Winn, a former doctor from Arundel who paid more than $330,000 in 2023 to settle allegations that he submitted false Medicaid and Medicare claims. His voice breaking at points, he said it was “nauseating” that Sampson and Pellerin would question Corbett’s claims.
“I would never associate with somebody that was a liar, never,” Winn said. “I have had the deepest of conversations with him about the Holy Spirit and God, and he is a deeply committed man to truth.”
Winn alleged that Sampson had discouraged him from collecting signatures for Corbett’s campaign at a January caucus in Wells. As he spoke, she repeatedly denied his claims.
Sampson, who served in the Maine House of Representatives from 2016 to 2024, noted that party bylaws bar her from supporting an independent if a Republican is running for an office. Corbett asked her if she would support him if he stayed on the ballot. She did not answer.
“That remains to be seen,” she said. “That’s a hypothetical.”
Daniel O’Connor is a Report for America corps member who covers rural government as part of the partnership between the Bangor Daily News and The Maine Monitor, with additional support from BDN and Monitor readers.
