“If Julie and Kristy beat each other up so bad that people vote for me, that’s fine. Julie, Kristy and Kristy’s minions will do my campaigning for me in that showdown.”

For her part, Sprague said she intends to run a campaign that will stay away from personalities.

“If we, as candidates, stick to the real issues and run positive campaigns on experience and qualifications, then, really, rumors should not even play any part in this election.”

underage drinking

Both challengers reflected on whether they support Garcia’s push for prevention of underage drinking and prosecution of people providing alcohol to minors.

Garcia said too many young people in the region have died as a result of crashes caused by underage drinking, and as a result, she made the issue a top priority of her office.

“Providing alcohol to minors is not only a crime, but it is extremely dangerous. Alcohol kills more kids than all other drugs combined. When kids become intoxicated, they can die from alcohol poisoning, they can die an accidental death, they can become crime victims, and the list goes on.”

Barrett said underage drinking has been around “since the advent of alcohol and children” and won’t go away anytime soon.

“How about we focus on real problems, like children engaging in the use of illegal injectable drugs, which, in turn, is causing the spread of hepatitis C among North Country teenagers at an alarming rate?”

He said that if he’s elected, he’d prosecute on a case-by-case basis the parents who provide alcohol to minors.

“This goes back to a prosecutor’s fundamental duty of fairness,” Barrett said. “Blanket policies don’t work. If the parents’ actions while allowing teenagers to drink in their home (would) shock the conscious of a reasonable person, then they would be prosecuted.

“However, if a parent has taken every reasonable step to safeguard their children and their children’s friends by ensuring that no one will drive or get too out of control, and they continually monitor the teenagers, then I would have no interest in prosecuting those responsible, well-intentioned parents.”

Sprague said her feeling is that underage drinking should be addressed, but “this issue should not be the only focus of a District Attorney’s Office. This ‘tunnel vision’ causes more problems as prosecutors tend to look at one issue and ignore others.”

She said she would try to help victims of crimes, especially with programs like advocacy centers. Sprague was instrumental in starting a Child Advocacy Center in Clinton County to work with children who are victims of sexual abuse.