A former Gorham police lieutenant is launching a write-in campaign for the Republican nomination for Cumberland County Sheriff.
Edward “Ted” Blais of Standish announced his candidacy this week. Blais needs a minimum of 300 votes in the primary to earn a spot on the ballot in November. He would challenge incumbent Mark Dion, who is unopposed as the Democrat’s candidate for sheriff.
“I think I can win. I’ve worked hard for everything in my life,” Blais said.
Dion said he knows who Blais is and would recognize him in a crowd. “I welcome any challenger. That’s part of the process,” Dion said Tuesday.
After 20 years with the Gorham Police Department, Blais, 44, left a year ago to become chief of police at the University of Maine at Farmington. Blais rose to lieutenant in Gorham from sergeant in 2001. He recently sold his home in Gorham and moved to Standish.
Bill Holmes, chairman of the Cumberland County Republican Committee, said they are pleased to have a candidate with Blais’ experience and qualifications. “We believe Edward will bring professionalism and efficient leadership to the office of sheriff,” said Holmes, who is also the communications director for the county.
Blais would actively recruit “aggressively” to fill a staff shortage at the Cumberland County Jail. He said the jail has about 25 full time vacancies. He wants to work with the county’s human resource department to “cut through red tape” in the hiring process.
He would initiate assigning deputies to work full time with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. Blais said many robberies and burglaries are drug related. “The sheriff’s department should be more involved in drug investigation,” Blais said.
Blais said there also should be a full time grant writer on the sheriff’s staff.
Dion is confident that his administration has done a good job over the past eight years and believed that the citizens would come to a similar conclusion. Dion said he would wait until after the primaries for further comment.
Dion defeated Holmes for sheriff four years ago. Holmes, who said he got 47 percent of the votes, believes Blais would be elected. “We’re certain he’ll be successful in November,” Holmes said.
Holmes said that voters supporting the Blais write-in campaign would have to spell his full name correctly on the ballot besides writing in Standish as his residence. The primary election is on Tuesday, June 13.
Blais has been accepted at the national FBI academy. He’s a 1986 graduate of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, where he was president of his class. His education includes Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., and he has a master’s degree in criminal justice at Western New England College in Massachusetts.
As a lieutenant, Blais served as second in command under Gorham Police Chief Ron Shepard for four years. Blais has worked with officers from other departments in the surrounding area and said that experience would be helpful as sheriff.
As a hobby, Blais has built five houses in the past seven years. He also enjoys computer technology and said sharing data is important in fighting crime.
Blais is married with three children.
He said he’d work to keep illegal drugs out of schools and neighborhoods. Blais said he’d be tough on crime and wants to be the top law enforcement officer in the county. “I have the ability, knowledge and a lot of energy to do it,” Blais said.
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