Middlesex District Attorney Challenged by Former Top Prosecutor

A former career prosecutor in the Middlesex District Attorney’s office is challenging incumbent Marian T. Ryan in September’s Democratic primary, setting up a contentious and expensive race for control of one of the state’s highest-profile prosecutors’ offices.

David M. Solet, who served as Ryan’s chief investigator into cold cases for nearly seven years, is Ryan’s first primary challenger since 2018. He announced his campaign in September 2025.

In a Wednesday interview, Solet cited a need for the District Attorney’s office to more aggressively investigate cold cases and operate apolitically as reasons to run against Ryan, a veteran prosecutor widely labeled as a political progressive.

“People who live in this community deserve a district attorney who is going to do the right thing when nobody is watching,” Solet said, “and I think it’s time for a change.”

The Middlesex District Attorney’s office prosecutes crimes across Middlesex County, Mass., including in Cambridge. In addition to handling many standard criminal cases, the office oversees all homicide investigations in the county.

Ryan has positioned herself as a state-level bulwark to the Trump administration, highlighting her time leading the District Attorney’s office throughout Donald Trump’s first term as proof that she has “never been more qualified” to lead.

“Experience really matters, and I am coming to what’s happening now with that background,” Ryan said in a Monday interview.

Solet also enters the Democratic primary at an enormous financial disadvantage: While Ryan, a powerhouse fundraiser, sits on a war chest of more than $650,000, Solet reported holding roughly $124,000 on hand in February.

Still, Solet brushed aside questions over whether he can overcome this enormous financial gap in a statement, writing that “we’re not going to win this campaign because of money.”

“We’re going to win this campaign because of commitment, experience, and a message that resonates with the voters,” Solet wrote. “And the voters are ready for a change.”

Solet led the Middlesex District Attorney’s office’s cold case unit from 2019, when he was chosen by Ryan to be its founding director, until he resigned from the job in September. Since then, he has made Ryan’s handling of cold cases and unsolved murders a central issue in his campaign.

Solet, who said he solved more than a dozen cold cases throughout his time leading the cold case unit, blasted Ryan for not providing enough resources to the group.

“I continually requested more attorneys to help,” he said. “I had proven that the premise was viable, that the cases could be solved with enough work, and I did not get that support from the district attorney.”

“These cases are some of the most important that we handle,” Solet added.

But Ryan rejected the characterization that she had underresourced the cold case unit in an interview.

“We’ve increased the size of that unit. I’m incredibly proud of the work that every one of the hundreds of DAs in our office does, and that level of work is certainly what we expect in all of our units,” Ryan said.

Solet also pointed to an alleged disagreement with Ryan as reason to challenge his old boss.

According to Solet, he suggested to Ryan that she back a bill extending the statute of limitations on aggravated sexual assault — which is currently 15 years — only to see her refuse and say that “not everyone would agree.”

Then Ryan abruptly threw her support last December behind a bill to do exactly what Solet had suggested months earlier. She did so shortly after Solet launched his own campaign website, he alleged, which centered his support for the law.

“I’m glad that she changed her mind, and I’m glad that she is now supporting a change in the statute,” Solet said, “but I think it is obvious to anyone paying attention that she never would have done that if she didn’t feel that the politics of the moment had changed.”

In a statement, Ryan declined to comment in response to Solet’s claim.

“I am not going to engage in the back-and-forth of negative campaigning,” she wrote. “I am very proud of this Office’s accomplishments under my leadership.”

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at shawnb.18. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

—Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at ClaireMichal.154.