BERLIN — There will be a new name and face at the helm of the Worcester County State’s Attorney’s Office after Kristin Heiser narrowly defeated Interim Worcester County State’s Attorney William McDermott in a tight race Tuesday.
County-wide, Republican Heiser received 2,606 total votes, for a percentage of 51.7, while Republican McDermott garnered 2,431 votes, or a 48.3 percentage.
McDermott actually led after the early voting period closed late last week with 637 votes to Heiser’s 525. For a while on Tuesday, it appeared those numbers would continue to bear out. When the first numbers were reported on Tuesday, McDermott led by mere percentage points.
However, as the evening wore on and more and more precincts reported, Heiser caught and eventually surpassed McDermott to win the seat since no Democrat is on November’s ballot. For Heiser, Tuesday’s victory represented a homecoming of sorts. The staunch prosecutor worked as an assistant state’s attorney in Worcester County from 2008 to 2011 before taking a similar position in Wicomico County. While she continues to prosecute cases in Wicomico, she is also in charge of the hiring and training of all new prosecutors and support staff for the District Court division, duties that should serve her well as she prepares to take the reins in Worcester and begins to put together her team.
Heiser also taught police recruits at the Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy and acts as a liaison for law enforcement agencies and consults on changing laws and police policies. Heiser is married to Ocean City Police Department Officer Jeff Heiser and comes from a strong law enforcement background with her father being a former Washington, D.C. police captain.
Kristin Heiser
“I felt great about our campaign,” she said. “I did absolutely everything I could do. I went to all of the functions, I knocked on over 1,300 doors and just had a real comprehensive strategy. I felt like we covered all of the bases, so there was really not much more to do on election night but wait for the returns to come in and it turned out to be a great win.”
While McDermott was showing as an early leader when the returns first started coming in, Heiser remained confident in the end result.
“We knew that the returns in Worcester County typically start from the south end and that was Bill’s base of support,” she said. “As the returns came in later, it started to turn the other way.”
Heiser said McDermott called her on Tuesday night with a gracious concession and promised to do his part for a smooth transition, which will slowly evolve until Heiser takes office.
“It’s kind of in flux right now,” she said. “It was hard fought and he ran an excellent campaign. It’s not personal. I’m very hopeful after the excitement and the emotion dulls, we will have a smooth transition with no gaps in coverage for the people of Worcester County.”
McDermott has served as interim state’s attorney for Worcester County for the last several months after serving as chief deputy under former Worcester County State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby for seven years.
When Oglesby was appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan to fill one of two vacancies on the Worcester County Circuit Court bench, McDermott was named interim state’s attorney, a position he will continue to hold until December.
McDermott could not be reached for comment.
