HOT ON THE TRAIL — Earlier this month, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan named David Solet, the chief of her office’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, Middlesex County Prosecutor of the Year.
Now Solet is eyeing a campaign against her. A graduate of Princeton College and Harvard Law School, Solet resigned from his role leading the unit tasked with bringing justice in uncharged cases and is exploring a bid for DA in Middlesex County, he told friends and family in an email Tuesday night.
“This is not personal, but it is professional,” Solet, who described himself as a lifelong Democrat, said in an interview. “If I thought that the changes that I think need to be made could be made by influencing the office from inside, which I have tried to do, then I would do that, but I no longer believe that’s possible.”
Solet previously worked as the chief legal counsel of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and earlier was co-chair of the Boston Bar Association’s Criminal Law Steering Committee. He currently sits on the association’s executive committee and is an Army Reserve Officer, not currently on active duty.
Challenging the boss is a bold move. But Solet’s motivation is threefold. The first-time candidate wants to change the culture in the office to retain and train talented lawyers who can “go toe to toe” with highly paid private attorneys. He also sees a need to shift the strategy around public safety.
“The number one job of the district attorney’s office, the overarching priority, is to protect the people we serve from the most dangerous offenders,” Solet said. “Being able to draw a distinction and use judgment to figure out who are people that are struggling and have made a mistake that is correctable and who are the people who are truly dangerous is a core part of the job.”
He also sees a need for leadership in the Middlesex DA’s office to step up against President Donald Trump’s administration, when, in his view “there has been one escalating outrage after another in rule of law.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Ryan faced a primary challenger since she was appointed to serve in the role by then-Gov. Deval Patrick in 2013 after Gerard Leone resigned for a job at a law firm. She went uncontested in 2022 after defeating Donna Patalano in the Democratic primary in 2018.
GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Some trivia for the #mapoli history buffs: An assistant district attorney in Suffolk County once challenged his boss, the Suffolk County district attorney, in a Democratic primary and won. Know who? Send your answers over: kgarrity@politico.com