Middlesex District Attorney Candidates Debate Issues at Framingham Library

The two Democratic candidates for Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Michael Sullivan participated in a debate last night, Aug. 27.

The District Attorney oversees over 35,000 cases a year in the 54 cities and towns of the state’s largest county.

The debate was co-hosted by the Framingham Democratic Town Committee and Metrowest Daily News. View a slideshow of photos from the debate, at this link.

The two candidates were Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Middlesex Clerk of Courts, Michael J. Sullivan.

Ryan has been District Attorney since being appointed to that position by Gov. Patrick, upon the retirement from office of former D.A. Jerry Leone in April of 2013.

Ryan is a career prosecutor, having spent over three decades as an Assistant District Attorney in that office.

According to her website, she has prosecuted violent criminals, advocated for victim’s rights and designed and implemented several crime prevention initiatives during her career at the Middlesex D.A.‘s office. Amongst her programs as D.A., Ryan has committed her office’s resources to educating the county’s student-age population of the dangers of prescription drug abuse, teen dating violence, bullying and distracted driving. Ms. Ryan has been committed to pretrial diversion programs aimed at preventing young offenders from becoming involved in the adult criminal justice system, and she developed a bi-annual college consortium for educators, administrators and campus police, focused on campus safety and security. Similarly, she is administering programs focused on domestic violence protection and senior citizen protection of senior citizens from fraud, abuse and neglect.

Sullivan is currently the Clerk of Middlesex Superior Court, a position he has held for 8 years.

Before his current position, he was Mayor of Cambridge from 2002 – 2006, serving two terms; served on the Cambridge School Committee for two terms; and served in both the Attorney General’s office and the Middlesex D.A.’s office as a prosecutor for a combined 8 years.

According to Sullivan’s website, as Clerk, he oversees the filing, procedure, and ultimate disposition of the approximately 5000 civil and 1800 criminal cases per year. He manages the day-to-day operations of 17 full time courtrooms and the duties of over 60 employees. As Clerk Magistrate, he presides over the arraignments and pretrial procedures of all criminal cases that have commenced in the grand jury of Middlesex County. Presently, he holds the distinction of serving as President of the Massachusetts Superior Court Clerks Association. He points to his record of success over his 20 years of public service and proven administrative ability as his strong points in this campaign.

The debate was moderated by Rick Holmes, from the daily newspaper. Questions were asked of the candidates by employees from Gatehouse Media.

Editor’s Note: Framingham Patch was not asked to be a part of the debate.

Voters will decide between the two candidates in the state primary election on Sept. 9.

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Kevin Cummings of Cummings Photography in Framingham, submitted this slideshow of photos from the debate to Framingham Patch.

Editor’s Note: While Framingham Patch is going through a redesign, all slideshows & videos will post on its Facebook page, until the upgrades are completed.