Harrington To Challenge For Berkshire DA

This story is updated from earlier: The Massachusetts Primary that was originally scheduled for Sept. 18th was moved because the date conflicts with the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. One week earlier, Sept. 11th was not a possibility as Rosh Hashana falls on that date. The Primary will be held on Sept. 4th. 

The September State Primary Election is still more than six months away, but here in the Berkshires, things are already starting to heat up, particularly the race for Berkshire District Attorney.

When now-former Berkshire District Attorney, David Capeless, announced his retirement at the beginning of March, his selection of his then First Assistant District Attorney Paul Caccaviello really was not a surprise. Capeless said during his press briefing that he made his announcement at that time so that Caccaviello would have an opportunity to run as District Attorney, as he did 14 years ago.

However, the selection was met with a bit of skepticism. In fact, there have been several outspoken critics of the move, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which felt that the move gave Caccaviello an unfair advantage over any potential opponents.

Now, less than a week after Caccaviello was sworn into office, he has a potential challenger. Attorney and former State Senate candidate, Andria Harrington, has taken out papers and has announced she will take on Caccaviello in the Democratic primary. Harrington pulled nomination papers from the Secretary of State's Office in Springfield on Tuesday morning. She says that her campaign will officially kick off in the weeks ahead. The primary is scheduled for September 4th.

Harrington is the scheduled guest on Friday morning’s ‘City Talk’ program on 1420 WBEC, which airs at 11:30. The show re-airs on Sunday. We are also in the process of scheduling DA Caccaviello on a future program.