Concord's Halvorsen Launches A Second Bid For County Attorney

CONCORD, NH — A Concord city prosecutor is giving the Merrimack County attorney's race another try in 2020 after losing the race by about 2,500 votes nearly two years ago. Paul Halvorsen, a former Concord city councilor and veteran, announced last week that he would be challenging incumbent attorney Robin Davis, a defense attorney who won the Democrat's nomination by write-in and bested Halvorsen in the last general election. The long-time city prosecutor, who now mostly handles juvenile cases, said his nearly 20-years of prosecutorial and court experience, as well as supervisory and leadership experience, are what is needed in the county attorney's office, during this difficult time.

"The residents of Merrimack County deserve a prosecution team that is made up of dedicated professionals seeking justice for victims of crime," Halvorsen said. "My initial priority is to retain and hire the best prosecutors, victim advocates, investigators and support staff available so we can focus on keeping Merrimack County safe. It is this team that will allow the voices of victims to always be heard and never marginalized."

Halvorsen is former Air Force officer who worked in the DEA and Customs drug interdiction program for more than seven years, leading a team of close to 200 people. While serving, he also earned master's degrees in public administration and forensic science. Later, he pursued a law career after moving to Concord. He has been a prosecutor since 2003.

Halvorsen said while also helping victims, the voices of law enforcement professionals "must also be heard" because when it comes to crime, "nobody knows the pulse of a community better than those officers who interact within that community day-in and day-out and we must use that resource."

About 18 months ago, when he announced that he was running for the Republican nomination after President Donald Trump named then-County Attorney Scott Murray to be the new U.S. Attorney, Halvorsen was the lone candidate in the race. Later, Nicole Schultz-Price of Hopkinton, a prosecutor from Hillsborough County, jumped into the Republican primary — but Democrats declined to run a candidate. Later, Davis launched a write-in campaign for the position and garnered nearly 1,400 votes to gain ballot access to the Democrats' nomination while Halvorsen bested Schultz-Price by about 4,600 votes in September 2018.

While Halvorsen focused on his experience as a prosecutor and public administration experience, Davis campaigned on treating criminal behavior similar to a mental illness or drug addiction.

In November, Davis was able to ride a wave of discontent concerning Trump and Republicans during the midterm election cycle — beating Halvorsen by about 2,200 votes — despite Sheriff Scott Hilliard and Gov Chris Sununu, both Republicans, easily winning the county.

While Halvorsen had solid support throughout the county, including most of the smaller communities in the northern, eastern, and southern part of the county, liberal voter turnout in Bow, Concord, Henniker, Hopkinton, and Warner, were enough to push Davis into the win column.

Since taking office, Davis has come under fire for being anti-police, anti-victim, and having a bias against female employees, after she made changes to the personnel and policy when she came into office — including disbanding the county's sexual assaults unit, according to media reports. In August 2019, a civil lawsuit was filed against Davis in Merrimack County Superior Court claiming she attempted to humiliate an investigator in the department. Months later, Davis and the county requested to have the lawsuit dismissed. That investigator is on leave and the lawsuit is still pending.

Toward the end of 2019, according to the Concord Monitor, at the request of the attorney general, who took over the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office in September — due to what egregious plea deals after the election of Democrat Michael Conlon — Davis and county police chiefs began meeting in an effort to improve relations between departments, officers, and the county attorney office, after simmering and lingering tensions between Davis and police concerning how prosecutions were being handled as well as sentencing guidelines, victim advocacy, and bail reform.

Bail reform is a sticky issue statewide and has led to hardened criminals facing felonies being released on personal recognizance bail all around the state. These changes have seen a spike in perpetrators skipping court dates and, in a number of cases, committing more crimes while out on bail. Bail reform has led to police officers arresting the same people over and over again — something Davis acknowledged during an interview with the Monitor last month.

It is unknown at post time whether or not Davis will be seeking re-election or Schultz-Price will be running in the primary again.

For more information about his campaign, visit https://attorneyhalvorsen.com.

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