[B]ENNINGTON — Rights and Democracy of Bennington is mounting a campaign to elect Arnold Gottlieb state’s attorney, despite his withdrawal in September from the race against incumbent Erica Marthage and challenger Christina Rainville.
“The group of us feel that it is time for a change for Bennington, and for its State’s Attorney’s office,” said member Mary Gerisch in an email.
She said the advocacy group will use campaign signs and other means to urge voters to choose Gottlieb, whose name remains on the Nov. 6 ballot as an independent.
Rainville also is listed as an independent, while Marthage is on both the Democratic and Republican ballot lines, after defeating Gottlieb in the Aug. 14 primary and taking the GOP line through write-in votes.
“After reviewing various statistics, and knowing about all of the substance misuse problems in town, we do not feel the same old approach will get us anywhere as a community,” Gerisch said. “We support Arnie’s thought about a treatment options court, which could combine not only drug cases, but cases that are related to mental health, self-medication, substance misuse and other situations which actually lead people to the kinds of behaviors that break the law.”
Marthage has opposed establishment of a formal drug court, contending one here in the past was ineffective and lost its state funding after a few years. She said a localized system she helped form along with nonprofit organizations provides court diversion services and is more effective, less costly in terms of delivering services and more focused on Bennington County.
Rainville, a former deputy prosecutor in Marthage’s office, also supports a state drug court docket in Bennington. However, Gerisch has said the RAD group believes Rainville’s record as a deputy prosecutor in the Bennington office is similar to that of the incumbent.
Marthage, who was first elected in 2006 and is seeking a fourth term, has been criticized by Gottlieb and others as having a “tough on crime” attitude that is outdated and results in too many area residents who might benefit from a diversion program being incarcerated instead.
“We do not think incarceration serves the purpose of helping these folk turn into self-sufficient and contributing members of our Bennington community,” Gerisch said. “Rather, incarceration serves just to punish them, costs taxpayer money, and breaks apart families — which costs even more taxpayer money.”
She added, “It’s not efficient from the perspective of either fiscal of human rights policy. Arnie could change that.”
In addition, Gerisch said, the group believes Gottlieb is “someone who is supportive of decarceration and condemns disparities in charging and sentencing.”
Marthage contends that recent incarceration statistics for the county counter the criticism of Gottlieb and others that her office files charges against too many people who would have benefited from court diversion, leading to what they believe is the highest incarceration rate among Vermont counties.
“The statewide Rights and Democracy organization continues to endorse me on its website in spite of my decision [to withdraw] and, apparently, a group of local supporters and activists seeking criminal justice reform intend to put their yard signs back up,” Gottlieb said in an email.
“I have consistently reiterated to supporters that even though my name remains on the ballot as an independent, I have suspended my campaign,” he said. “I am flattered by the current groundswell of support, but I do not expect a landslide victory like that of Warren G. Harding who won the presidency without ever leaving his front porch.”
Reached on Friday, Marthage declined to comment on the Rights and Democracy initiative.
“I think it’s unfortunate and sad that RAD, an organization with an agenda based in Burlington, is trying to confuse voters in Bennington County and persuade them to waste their vote on a candidate who long ago dropped out of the race and who admitted that he had no chance of winning,” Rainville said in an email.
“RAD’s interference in the Bennington election is the only endorsement they’ve made in a state’s attorney race, and to endorse a candidate who withdrew and hasn’t campaigned suggests a lack of credibility on their part.”
She added that “the race between me and my opponent (Marthage) gives voters a clear choice … .”
Gerisch also addressed criticism from Marthage and Rainville that Gottlieb, who has never worked as a prosecutor and moved to the state four years ago from Ohio, does not have a necessary understanding of the Vermont legal system.
“Arnie was criticized by the current state’s attorney for not being from Vermont,” she stated. “Perhaps that is exactly what we need! Someone without good ol’ network connections. Someone who grew up and practiced in a geographic area that has a more diverse population and more diverse needs.”
Gottlieb mounted a strong Democratic Primary challenge to Marthage and simultaneously qualified for the ballot as an independent. But he later withdrew from his campaign, saying he saw “no viable path to victory.”
He lost the Aug. 14 primary to Marthage by 526 votes countywide.
The Dorset resident and private practice attorney said in September that supporters had encouraged him to continue in the race as an independent. But he said that, “as a lifelong Democrat I was hesitant. I have always believed in the tenets and ideals of the party. The idea of ‘second chance party jumping’ and the ability to be a candidate on behalf of more than one major party, as permitted under Vermont law, puts an emphasis on winning rather than encouraging a sense of loyalty to a party and its ideals.”
Rainville served nearly nine years as an assistant state’s attorney in the office before being dismissed by Marthage in early 2016.
She said after Gottlieb’s withdrawal that “Mr. Gottlieb clearly saw the need for change in the Bennington County state’s attorney’s office. He ran an honorable campaign and advanced progressive ideas, many of which I share, particularly the need for a drug court.”
Gottlieb has been in private practice attorney since 1978 in Ohio and Vermont. He said he and his wife “fell in love with Vermont” during vacation visits and moved here in 2014.
