York County GOP Chair Heidi Sampson and Independent York Sheriff Candidate Brian Pellerin challenged David Corbett’s petition to run for the sheriff as a Republican last week, accusing him of lying about his qualifications for the position.
[RELATED: Cumberland County Chief Deputy Announces Independent Run for York County Sheriff…]
According to state law, someone must have at least two years of supervisory experience in law enforcement or corrections in order to qualify to run for sheriff. Those requirements can be waived for anyone who can prove that they served as a full-time law enforcement officer prior to July 1990 or who previously served as a sheriff.
“Mr. Corbett claims that he was a county sheriff on, or before, June 26, 1997. However, public records show that Mr. Corbett has never been a county sheriff. I hereby challenge Mr. Corbett’s certification on the grounds that he does not meet the minimum eligibility requirements under state law,” said Sampson in her letter.
Pellerin’s challenge targeted the same alleged lack of qualifications.
“I am not challenging the validity of the signatures collected and filed by Candidate Corbett, but the sworn affirmation that he possesses 2 years of law enforcement and/or corrections supervision employment experience,” said Pellerin.
“Mr. Corbett has no recorded history of ever holding a supervisory position in either law enforcement or corrections. I have several witnesses who have known Mr. Corbett throughout his short and decades-old law enforcement career, who can and will provide sworn affidavits attesting to this fact,” he added.
Pellerin also questioned the credibility of the people identified by Corbett as employers confirming his eligibility.
In addition to challenging Corbett’s qualifications, Pellerin submitted a Freedom of Access Act request to the Secretary of State’s (SOS) Office asking for records in which Mr. Corbett swore to having the relevant experience and any records showing that he previously held the office of sheriff, if those exist.
In response to the challenges to Corbett’s candidacy, the SOS office, which oversees elections, announced that it would be holding a hearing on Friday at 9:30 a.m., where the challengers will have the burden of proof to show that Corbett is not qualified.
The challengers and candidate will be able to call witnesses, make arguments, and present evidence.
Following the hearing, the SOS office will decide within five days whether Corbett’s candidacy can continue.
The hearing will be livestreamed to the public.
Corbett issued a strangely worded response to the SOS office after he was informed of the upcoming hearing, insinuating that the challenges, one of which came from his own party’s county chair, were politically motivated.
“This hearing is not as sterile as it might seem it is purely political. [sic],” said Corbett.
He did not explain why he believed the challenges to be politically motivated.
He also requested that the hearing be live streamed so his wife could attend, and asked that the challengers be compelled to pay for his travel expenses related to the hearing. The SOS office informed him that they have no authority to compel the challengers to pay him.
Corbett, who at the time served as the pastor for a church in Biddeford, previously ran as a Republican in 2021 for a seat in Maine’s State Senate, representing parts of York. At the time, the Maine Senate Republicans claimed that he had an “extensive” background in law enforcement, including as a transport officer, road deputy, and corrections officer in the York County Sheriff’s Office and as a police officer in Biddeford and Saco.
The Senate Republicans did not specify whether he ever served as a supervisor and did not mention past experience as a sheriff.
A 2023 article from the Portland Press Herald highlighted his working relationship with current York Sheriff William King. According to that article, Corbett gave a presentation at the Pensacola Christian College in Florida and encouraged students to apply to be corrections officers under King.
“During our many conversations, he has steered people my way. When he went to Florida, he seized an opportunity to recruit there,” King reportedly said at the time.
Corbett was also previously appointed by King to serve on the York County Jail Board of Visitors, a supervisory body that reviews and issues reccomendations on jail operations.
The Maine Wire reached out to Corbett, asking him for comment on the challenges made against his candidacy and asking him why he decided to run against King, with whom he seemingly had a strong relationship, but he did not respond.
