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Historic race for Lancaster County District Attorney

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. —  A historic election day in Lancaster County: For the first time in 80 years, someone outside the district attorney’s office...

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. --  A historic election day in Lancaster County: For the first time in 80 years, someone outside the district attorney's office will takeover as the county's top law enforcement officer.

For the last 8 decades, voters say the race for DA has been one-sided.

Now, however, there are signs for two candidates.

"A democratic man and a republican woman," exclaimed Diane Ehenamm, who voted in Manheim Township.

The county's lead prosecutor will either be a female or a democrat; it's the first time that's ever happened in Lancaster County.

"It helps draw the public into the polls," said George Ehenamm, who also voted in Manheim Township.

The candidates are Republican Heather Adams and Democrat Hobie Crystle.

Both are Lancaster County natives who say they will find money for the county's drug task force which needs a stable source of funding.

"I've worked with so many drug task forces, and I've seen different funding models for those task forces," explained Adams.

"I would make the county fund the drug task force, and we would free up forfeiture proceedings for new avenues of treatment [for substance abuse disorder]," explained Crystle.

Adams touts knowing the criminal justice system from both sides in her role as prosecutor and as a criminal defense attorney.

Crystle has 30 plus years as a defense attorney and wants criminal justice reform.

He says that starts by fixing things from the top down.

"We're going to end cash bail and stop poor people from spending their sentence before they're convicted of anything," explained Crystle.

Adams wants to highlight school safety; she says the DA's office will do that by partnering law enforcement with districts throughout Lancaster County.

She also wants to bring formal training to the DA's office office "to make sure the office is staffed with solid prosecutors and experienced prosecutors trained properly from day one."

Craig Stedman has been Lancaster County District Attorney over the past 12 years. His name is on the ballot today for another spot; he is running for county judge against Democrat Gregory Paulson.

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