LEWISTON — Republican Tim Lajoie of Lewiston has formally announced his run for Androscoggin County sheriff.

He faces Democrat Eric Samson of Auburn and independent Raymond Lafrance of Poland.

A 10-year veteran of the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department, Lajoie has served the county as a corrections officer and supervisor, communications officer, chief steward of the employee’s union and chaplain.

In a news release, he said, “In the future, America’s sheriffs will be confronted with serious questions that extend beyond the local level: federal and state priorities straining local budgets and resources, overreaching federal and state authority into local communities, and overreaching federal authority that places the very essence of our constitutional freedoms at risk. The sheriff is someone who needs to stand against these intrusions … and I believe I am that man.”

Lajoie is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran with over 25 years of experience in law enforcement, corrections, communications and police chaplaincy. He graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Law Enforcement School in 1988, the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in 1992, and holds a master’s degree in management and leadership studies.

He will complete his Master of Science degree in criminal justice and public administration next spring. He is a member of the Maine Law Enforcement Chaplain Corps.

Lajoie calls himself “the citizens’ candidate.”

According to his announcement, “the sheriff should be a citizen first, with a sense of ethical responsibility to first serve the public; consequently, leadership and organizational goals and decisions should give heed to the citizen priorities and concerns.”

Lajoie has been married for 27 years and is the father of two adult children.