Letter: Kathryn Benfield: the logical choice for district attorney

Newport native Kathryn Benfield should be the voters’ overwhelming choice for Lincoln County District Attorney in the May election.

With more than 35 years’ experience in practice, Benfield has handled both civil and criminal matters and regularly appears before juries. She has compassion and common sense. She has discernment and discretion. She understands how to make payroll and handle differing personalities in a complex office. She understands the role of a prosecutor and the need to charge only what the facts establish, not waste resources and goodwill by charging every conceivable misdeed as a crime.

Benfield has fought for injured citizens and helped those who need second chances. She knows our community and the value of cooperation instead of conflict. She will bring a breath of fresh air to an office marked by turnover, dissention and dysfunction over the past three years.

Benfield’s opponent, a newcomer to the community, has never run a business and has never handled a civil case or represented a citizen charged with an offense. She was brought in as a second chief deputy, a position that didn’t exist and that her boss, the outgoing DA, sued the county commissioners (unsuccessfully) to create. Only when yet another deputy left did this newcomer assume the position she now holds.

Kathryn Benfield carries none of the baggage and bad karma from the office in the past few years. She is widely known, respected and supported by people throughout the county in all walks of life.

Please join me in electing Kathryn Benfield as our next Lincoln County District Attorney.

Susan Elizabeth Reese Painter

Newport