HONESDALE, NY — Senior Wayne County Deputy District Attorney Republican Kathy Martin is running against Republican Honesdale Attorney A.G. Howell to capture the Republican nomination to become the next Wayne County district attorney.

Martin, a former chief of staff, general counsel, chief integrity officer and acting Philadelphia district attorney, says on her website she has managed a staff of 600 attorneys and staff.

She says, “My skills as a prosecutor and trial attorney coupled with my experience running the fifth largest DA’s office in the country is unequaled in this race and has prepared me for the job of keeping you safe.

“I am not a politician. Never have been and never will be. I am a prosecutor and the most qualified and experienced candidate to be Wayne County’s top law enforcement officer.”

Howell’s website says, “A.G. Howell, a lifelong Republican, is ready to serve as our next District Attorney on day one. He has more than 20 years of experience, handling every type of case from homicides to drug trafficking, sex crimes, burglaries, thefts, assaults and DUIs. He served four years as a prosecutor in the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office, more than a decade as a Wayne County Public Defender, and has handled criminal cases throughout his two decades in private practice.

Both use their websites to attack their opponent. Martin’s website features a story about a Lake Ariel resident who was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. Howell was the prosecutor. The victim Robert Nolan writes, “Rather than doing his job and caring for my interests as the victim, my case had been plea bargained down to a slap on the wrist by Assistant District Attorney A. G. Howell in an agreement reached on December 8, 2017 with the drunk driver’s attorney.”

On his website, Howell accuses Martin of stretching the truth. He writes, “Martin claims to have ‘tried nearly 100 criminal jury trials’ [but] she has only tried three cases as a prosecutor: three in Pike County, zero in Philadelphia, zero in Wayne County

“As to her claim of ‘nearly 100 criminal jury trials,’ 95% of all criminal cases end in plea bargains. Most career criminal attorneys, even famous prosecutors and defense attorneys like Johnnie Cochran, never tried 100 cases.”

The winner of the primary will face Democratic incumbent Patrick Robinson in the election in November.