AUBURN — Republican District Attorney candidate Seth Carey, whose law license is suspended, is moving ahead with his campaign.
Some in the Republican party had hoped Carey might withdraw from the race Monday, the last day he could do so and still have the party pick a replacement candidate.
“They wish!” Carey said Monday. “I’m in it to win it.”
Carey has said he intends to regain his license to practice before Election Day on Nov. 6, when he faces Democrat Andrew Robinson for district attorney for Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties.
Carey pulled off a shocking upset in a primary against Alexander Willette last month.
A woman secured a protection from abuse order against Carey in Rumford in April after accusing him of sexual abuse, a charge so volatile that his license was suspended and the state Republican party called on him to quit the race.
Carey, though, refused to step down. His victory at the primary polls stunned party insiders.
On the night of the primary, Carey said he would devote the next few months to clearing his name and getting the truth out “about false allegations from my detractors and those who have the most to lose by me draining the swamp.”
Maine law requires a candidate who wants to withdraw and have the party name another contender to notify the secretary of state by 5 p.m. on the second Monday of July. The party would then have two weeks to name a successor.
A party can also replace a candidate later in the campaign in the event of a candidate’s death or serious illness, if a family member files paperwork signed by a physician. Both situations are rare.
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