The U.S. Senate voted Monday to confirm Andrew Benson’s appointment as U.S. attorney for the state of Maine.
Former Lewiston Police Chief David St. Pierre, meanwhile, received Senate confirmation to serve as Maine’s new U.S. marshal.
Benson served as a state District Court judge for more than a decade before President Donald Trump nominated him last September to take over the U.S. attorney’s office in Maine. Prior to serving as a judge, Benson handled homicide cases for the Maine attorney general’s office and worked as a prosecutor in a central Maine district attorney’s office. He has held the position of interim U.S. attorney since late October as his nomination was pending in the Senate.
St. Pierre worked in the Lewiston Police Department for more than 30 years and served as chief from 2021 until his retirement last year.
“Judge Benson and Chief St. Pierre have each devoted more than three decades to public service and law enforcement in Maine,” Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said in a statement. “Judge Benson’s many years of experience as a senior homicide prosecutor and his long tenure on the Maine District Court give me great confidence that he will serve our state well as U.S. Attorney. Chief St. Pierre’s steady leadership during the most challenging moment in Maine’s recent history, the tragic mass shooting of 2023, demonstrated his professionalism, composure, and devotion to public safety.”
Benson and St. Pierre were among more than 40 nominees for federal posts who were voted on as a group in the Senate on Monday evening. The 46-43 vote fell along party lines, however, because Democrats wanted individual votes on nominees.
U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent, joined Democrats in opposing the en bloc nominations. King had not objected to Benson’s or St. Pierre’s nominations when they were presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee for review.
King’s office said he would have carefully considered the pair had they been given individual, up-or-down votes but that the senator felt compelled to vote against the group because the pool included many individuals “with highly questionable track records.”
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
