Editorial: Martin is our choice for district attorney

The three-way race for the new District Attorney position boils down to a simple question: Which candidate has a proven ability to put the most dangerous members of our community behind bars for a long time?

The answer is Alan Martin, who currently serves as the chief district attorney for Iredell and Alexander counties.

Martin, who has worked as a prosecutor for 14 years, has more experience trying serious crimes than his opponents in Tuesday’s Republican primary, Sarah Kirkman and Michael Van Buren. There is no Democratic opposition in this race so the winner of the GOP primary will take office in January.

This is an important election for the residents of Iredell County. For the past three decades, we’ve shared an elected prosecutor with three other counties. With the creation of a new district (22A), we will have a district attorney who is responsible and accountable to voters in only Iredell and Alexander.

And we’re fortunate to have three good candidates, all of whom have experience in our overworked criminal justice system.

Kirkman, an assistant district attorney in Iredell and Alexander, has taken the high road in this campaign and represented herself well, earning the support of the Fraternal Order of Police along the way. She has 11 years of experience as a prosecutor and has positioned herself as a crusader against child sexual predators.

Van Buren’s presence in the race has forced his better-known opponents to address some very real public concerns about the district attorney’s office’s conviction and dismissal rates in Iredell County. The numbers he quotes are startling and the winner of this race will be tasked with making some measurable improvements.

But Van Buren, an assistant district attorney in Rowan County who lives in Statesville, has campaigned as if Garry Frank, our current DA, is his opponent in the primary. Had that been the case, we may well have offered him our endorsement.

Unfortunately for Van Buren, he’s battling two opponents who have demonstrated a real and lasting commitment to seeking justice for the criminally accused and their victims here in Iredell and Alexander counties.

Among those two, we believe Martin has best established himself as a tough, independent prosecutor who has earned his stripes by sending a cast of bad characters to prison. When he’s taken a murder case to trial, Martin has won a conviction every single time. It’s tough to argue with that record.

With the accused killers of Don and Sue Barker, James and Delet Powell, Terry Turner, Jennifer Vincek and Jeff Peck still awaiting trial, voters in Iredell should ask themselves on May 6 which candidate for district attorney is most qualified to take these cases to a jury and seek the maximum punishment allowed by law.Martin’s experience and record in the cases where the stakes are the highest make him the best choice.