BATH, Maine — A sheriff’s election between the incumbent and one of his deputies would normally draw few headlines, but the November race in Sagadahoc County is different because the Lewiston mass shooting hangs over it.
Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry, a Democrat who has been in charge for 16 years, is seeking a fifth term against Sgt. Aaron Skolfield, a Republican and two-decade veteran of the office who has been blamed more than any other Maine official for his response to warnings about Robert Card II in the weeks before the Army reservist from Bowdoin killed 18 and injured 13 in Maine’s deadliest-ever mass shooting.
Card’s family members along with those of some victims have taken offense to the campaign for different reasons. While the candidates say they decided to run before the shooting and are focused on staffing levels and other initiatives, the Lewiston events hang over the Nov. 5 election, which comes just days after the first anniversary of the massacre.
The ensuing criticism of the sheriff’s office and military leaders over how they handled warnings from Card’s family and peers about his paranoia, threats and access to guns thrust Merry, 66, and Skolfield, 52, into the spotlight. Skolfield has vocally defended himself while Merry pointed to a review he requested that found his deputies responded reasonably at the time.
James Herling, Card’s brother-in-law, zeroed in on Skolfield, saying he wishes for more recognition “that a ball was dropped and that we need to be able to fix what needs to be fixed.”
“I don’t think either one of them should be running, to tell you the truth,” said Bobbi Nichols, a former Sagadahoc County resident whose sister, Tricia Asselin, died in the Lewiston shooting. “Take responsibility, and stop blaming everybody else because you guys didn’t do your job.”
Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, criticized Skolfield and Army Reserve leaders for “profound negligence” in early September. She agreed with her shooting review commission’s final report, which found Skolfield should have used Maine’s “yellow flag” law that the governor helped craft to take Card into protective custody.
Instead, he left Card’s home after he did not answer the door during welfare checks last September. Mills also urged Sagadahoc County voters to read the final report and think deeply about their choice for sheriff in November as she avoided making an explicit endorsement.
That set off Skolfield, who met twice in September with a reporter at a Richmond gas station and then a Topsham sandwich shop to share dozens of documents and his side of things.
“When Mills did what she did, I didn’t want to go down this rabbit hole, but I had to go on the defensive because she’s the one who made it political,” he said. “Not me.”
As he already said earlier this year, Skolfield argued the seven-member commission omitted and misrepresented key facts and the case’s timeline while placing blame on him. Namely, Skolfield recounted how he conducted welfare checks at Card’s Bowdoin residence on Sept. 15 and Sept. 16 last year after reservists relayed concerns about Card’s behavior and threats.
He also issued a statewide alert to law enforcement to attempt to locate an “armed and dangerous” Card. Skolfield said a family member assured him that those close to Card would try to secure Card’s weapons and contact the sheriff’s office if they needed additional assistance.
Skolfield went on vacation later that month, and the commission faulted him for not checking back in with the Card family and members of Card’s unit in October. Spokespeople for Mills did not respond to requests for comment. Former Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Dan Wathen, who chaired the commission, declined to comment on Skolfield’s criticism.
“The report speaks for itself,” Wathen said.
Skolfield campaigned for Merry when he first ran for sheriff but now views him as too old to keep serving. He said he wanted to run to fix a “disconnect” of having only two deputies on patrol at a time as well as outdated policies that govern the office.
Merry said the current roster of 20 full-time deputies along with numerous part-time and support staff is set to expand with two new positions, but he noted his requests to county commissioners for more money have to align with the annual budget cycle.
He initially planned on making his current term his last but said a “tumultuous” 2023 made him want to see through various initiatives, such as a wellness program for deputies, better treatment at the regional jail and what he hopes is a new office to replace an aging one in Bath.
When Skolfield conducted the welfare checks last September, Merry was away from work due to a staph infection and surgery while also acting as a legal guardian for his brother, who was disabled following a car crash and died last year.
He did not learn the full details of the case until after the shooting. On Wednesday, Merry did not attack Skolfield, instead noting the commission faulted the Army Reserve and found Card’s commander, Jeremy Reamer, “appeared to minimize the risk that Card posed to the community.”
If Skolfield is elected in November, he said he will name Cpl. Michael Fitzpatrick of the sheriff’s office as his No. 2. Skolfield has been treated unfairly and is not running for the top job as an “ego trip,” Fitzpatrick said in an interview.
“He wants to do it because he wants to be a steward to the county and this agency,” he said.
Though they have their differences, both Skolfield and Merry said the mass shooting made them reconsider a run for sheriff before supporters and residents each told them to stay in the race. Both said they are running to improve Sagadahoc County rather than dwell on Lewiston.
“We’re going to make sure that we never go down that path again,” Merry said.
