SALEM — State Rep. Paul Tucker defeated fellow Democrat, attorney James O’Shea, in the race for Essex district attorney, emerging victorious after holding a slim lead for much of Tuesday night.
According to the Associated Press, Tucker garnered 55 percent of the vote, while O’Shea garnered 45 percent. Tucker’s lead had grown to roughly 8,000 votes after preliminary vote counts at The Item’s press time tallied by the Tucker campaign gave the candidate 7,618 votes to 7,598 votes for O’Shea. The close balloting reflected a tough race that saw state representative and former Salem police chief Tucker stack up endorsements, including DA Jonathan Blodgett’s, and O’Shea come on strong with a bare-knuckled campaign slamming his opponent for a lack of courtroom experience.
“We’re looking for a great result tonight. We ran strong in a number of areas,” Tucker said Tuesday.
O’Shea could not be reached for comment as of press time on Tuesday night.
Tucker views the job of Essex district attorney as “the person with the vision.” “Honestly, I think if the DA is in the courtroom every day, there’s something wrong,” Tucker said in an interview with The Item’s Editorial Board last Monday.
His opponent, fellow Democrat James O’Shea disagreed and campaigned on his 24 years of experience representing thousands of clients in court proceedings.
“Anybody that comes in to run for any office, but particularly this office, has to have new ideas to try to move the office forward and if you don’t you shouldn’t be running,” O’Shea said.
“That’s not the job,” Tucker countered in The Item interview. “The job is to lead, is to be a community person. I spent as a police chief and as a rep, I spent 85 percent of my time in the community.… I think it’s the DA’s job to be the face of the office and to make sure that he or she is accessible.”
Tucker said his breadth of experience as a public official has made him well prepared to succeed Blodgett, citing his time on the judiciary, public safety, and mental health substance use disorder committees as a state representative.
Despite the DA’s position as the chief law enforcement official in the county, Tucker said he would take a team approach to the DA’s office.
O’Shea proposed updating the DA’s office to improve its intellectual technology, loosen its grip on assistant district attorneys to improve efficiency, and expand drug diversion programs to people older than 21.
He would also tackle disproportionate incarceration levels based on race. He said he would address what he sees as a direct correlation between disproportionate incarceration rates and the “excessive” number of motions filed under chapter 276, section 58A, to hold people without bail based on the nature of their charge, rather than the facts and circumstances of the case.
