A Republican candidate from South Portland running for the Maine House of Representatives has a minor criminal record dating to 2015 that includes convictions for drunken driving and violating a protective order.
Christopher J. Hoy, 28, a candidate for House District 33, which covers part of South Portland, was convicted of six misdemeanors between 2015 and 2017, including disorderly conduct, violating a protective order, drunken driving, reckless conduct and two instances of violating the conditions of his release.
The Maine Democratic Party highlighted Hoy’s criminal history in a press release Tuesday, and provided copies of court documents detailing the convictions and called on Republican leaders to urge Hoy to withdraw from the race.
Hoy, when reached Tuesday night, said it was “nice to know the Democrats know how to look up public records.”
Hoy’s criminal history was independently verified through a publicly available report generated by the State Bureau of Identification.
His Democratic opponent, attorney Victoria Morales, 43, has no criminal history in Maine, according to state records.
Reached Tuesday night, Morales said she didn’t want to respond to the Democratic Party’s revelations, and wants to focus on running a positive campaign.
“I really don’t want to weigh in,” Morales said. “It’s my first time running and I want to stay positive and focus on the issues that people are talking about.”
Hoy was first arrested in 2015 on charges of disorderly conduct and domestic violence assault, but pleaded guilty only to the disorderly charge and served 48 hours in jail.
In January 2017, he pleaded guilty to violating a protective order, and the victim in the case was the same woman involved in his first arrest. Once again, Hoy served 48 hours in jail. That same month, Hoy was charged with domestic violence assault and reckless conduct. He pleaded guilty to the reckless conduct and served 13 days in jail.
A month later, Hoy was arrested and charged with drunken driving, and was found to have a blood-alcohol content of 0.15, nearly twice the legal limit. He pleaded guilty to the drunken-driving charge and violating the conditions of his release, and for a third time was sentenced to 48 hours incarceration.
His latest arrest, according to state records, came in June 2017 when he pleaded guilty to violating a protective order, and was fined $300.
Hoy, when reached via email, said he was asked to run by the Republican Party and has no interest in raising money, but he called out the Democrats for being divisive.
“I’m a place holder,” Hoy said in an email. “Funny how they go after me when they outnumber (Republicans) in this town three to one. (To be honest) I think it makes them look bad going after a guy just trying to make his way.”
Hoy said he agreed to put his name on the ballot after no one else wanted to do it. After he agreed, Hoy said he realized that as a lifelong, hard-working Mainer, he had a greater insight than his opponent, whom he called a “failed lawyer from New York State.”
Hoy, who said he is a single dad who works in manufacturing, hasn’t raised any money for his campaign. He said he’s worried about rent money and paying for food.
“Plus I don’t want to have to report my spending,” he said in an email.
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