TUESDAY: Public invited to attend or email questions to Williamstown forum in hot district-attorney three-way race

WILLIAMSTOWN --  On Tuesday, July 31, the League of Women Voters of Williamstown is sponsoring a forum for the three candidates running for the Democratic nomination for Berkshire District Attorney.

As there is no Republican candidate, the race will be decided at the state primary on Sept. 4. The forum will be held from 7:00 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Paresky Center auditorium on the Williams College campus. The public is invited to attend and participate.

Willinet will tape the Forum and can provide tapes for rebroadcast by other public access channels. The candidates will make opening and closing statements, and members of the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions. Questions may also be submitted by email in advance to askinner@williams.edu

The three candidates, in alphabetical order, are:

• Paul J. Caccaviello, of Dalton, who graduated from Western New England College of Law in Springfield in 1989 and the former North Adams State College in 1986, has been an assistant Berkshire district attorney ever since. Caccaviello served on the Saint Agnes School Board, was a member of the Dalton Rotary Club and is a trustee of Berkshire Community College. He announced his candidacy in May  (AUDIO) in a ceremony which drew a state ethics complaint and a response from Caccaviello. 

• Andrea Harrington, an attorney at Conner and Morneau LLP who has been a criminal and civil practice attorney for 15 years. She is a graduate of Taconic High School and is a Richmond School Committee member. She ran for state senate two years ago but lost to Adam Hinds. She earned an undergraduate degree in international relations in the honors program at the University of Washington and received her law degree, cum laude from American University.

• Judith C. Knight, of Lee, served as an assistant district attorney in eastern Massachusetts from 1988 to 1993 and has had a Great Barrington private practice since 2006. Also a certified mediatory, she was an adjunct professor at Western New England School of Law from 1999-2005. She worked in the Colorado public defender's office in Denver in 1987-1988 after receiving her law degree in 1987 from Washington and Lee University in Virginia. She ran and lost to incumbent David Capeless in a 2006 primary bid for DA. She announced her candidacy in May.

Capeless retired earlier this year  (AUDIO) and Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, appointed Caccaviello to fill his expired term until November. (See: "A Massachusetts DA tries to crown his successor" by Eoin Higgins, June 26, 2018)

---

Related: "How Capeless plotted succession plan" (Commonwealth Magazine, May 17, 2018)

---

The last day to register to vote in the September primary is Aug. 15.  Tuesday's meeting of the three candidates is one of several between now and the Sept. 4 primary.  Their first faceoff was on May 16.

All three candidates have campaign websites:

• http://votecaccavielloda.com/
• http://harringtonfordistrictattorney.com/
• https://www.electjudithknight.com/

OTHER COVERAGE:

• http://www.wamc.org/post/berkshire-da-candidates-clash-over-experience
• http://www.wamc.org/post/democrat-challenging-caccaviello-berkshire-da
• http://www.wamc.org/post/wives-das-past-and-present-wade-berkshire-primary-race
• http://www.wamc.org/post/berkshire-da-explains-campaign-event-hosted-felon