With a lead of nearly 15,000 votes over her closest opponent, Jon Hall, it’s looking like Lori Streeter can soon take the “interim” out of her title as leader of the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction.
As of 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4, all but four of the 26 municipalities in Franklin County had reported their results to the Greenfield Recorder. Collectively, Streeter had received 20,222 votes in those municipalities compared to Hall’s 5,430 votes. The third candidate, Gary Gagnon, garnered 3,372 votes.
“I am incredibly humbled and grateful for the overwhelming support I have received from the people of Franklin County,” Streeter said in a statement. “I want to thank everyone who volunteered, made calls, put signs in their yard, attended events, spread the word and helped make this campaign a success. Most importantly, thank you to the voters for their trust and confidence. I remain committed to continue serving our community with honesty, integrity, compassion and accountability. This campaign has been a true community effort and I am truly grateful. Thank you, Franklin County.”
Streeter, 62, will bring decades of experience at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office to the role. Since joining the department part-time in 1985, she has worked as a corrections officer, superintendent and special sheriff.
Streeter has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and an associate degree in social work from Westfield State College. She grew up in Shelburne Falls and now lives in Greenfield with her wife.
She embarked on the sheriff’s race with goals to further her work boosting the department’s local presence and advocating for an independent Franklin County Sheriff’s Office as a special commission continues to look at the consolidation of sheriff’s offices and services. Through the relationships with state legislators and local officials she has built over the years, she also plans to expand the department’s educational programming and establish a women’s pre-release program, designed to help individuals transition back into society by providing services, training and support.
Streeter secured the Democratic nomination on an uncontested ballot in the Sept. 1 primary, receiving a total of 11,653 votes across Franklin County, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Gagnon, 42, worked at the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction for nearly 10 years beginning in 2010. Before that, he interned with the Springfield Police Department and the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office.
As an Independent candidate, Gagnon ran to increase transparency and public access within the department, reduce the sheriff’s salary, assist police departments with staffing shortages, expand educational programming for inmates in the trades and expand the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Regional Dog Shelter.
Hall, 45, has served as police chief in Northfield, where he lives, for the past five years. Prior to leading the Northfield Police Department, Hall worked as a sergeant, then lieutenant, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Police Department. He ran for sheriff as an unenrolled candidate.
On his campaign website, Hall described his goals of using the Sheriff’s Office to support regionalization of services and law enforcement agencies across the county, promote litter cleanup, enforce illegal dumping regulations, as well as explore the expansion of services without large budget impacts, and how and if inmates could volunteer at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Regional Dog Shelter.
