HARTLAND — Gov. Peter Shumlin will take a hard look on who to select as the next Windsor County state’s attorney. That’s because the Windsor County Democratic Committee endorsed both candidates for the job.

The Windsor County Democratic Committee passed a resolution on Monday advising the governor that David Cahill of Norwich and Michael Kainen of Hartford, are qualified for the job. Cahill and Kainen are seeking to replace outgoing State’s Attorney Robert Sand who was recently appointed by the governor to develop a new DUI court system.

The Windsor Democratic Committee acts in an advisory capacity and can only make suggestions to the governor. Windsor County Democratic Committee Chairman William Kuch was surprised by the delegates’ decision at the special meeting.

“There weren’t any ‘nays.’ I expected people wanted to make a choice and vote for one or the other,” Kuch said.

Cahill is a Windsor County Deputy state’s attorney who graduated from Dartmouth College with a major in history and German. He received his law degree from the University of Minnesota and has filed thousands of charges in a variety of criminal, civil and investigative matters in Windsor County.

Kainen is an Orange County Deputy state’s attorney and a former Republican state representative. He is the former executive director of the State Sentencing Commission and has worked with the Windsor County State’s Attorney’s
Office for 20 years on a variety of cases.

It is unknown whenShumlin will make a decision on Sand’s replacement. Sand will retire as Windsor County state’s
attorney March 25.