Aaron M. Frey (born c. 1978) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 58th

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

since 2019. He formerly served as a Democratic representative in the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via ...

Early life and career

Frey was born and raised in Dixmont, Maine. He is the son of Michael Frey and Cynthia Bean-Frey. Frey attended

Saint Anselm College Saint Anselm College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire, United States. Founded in 1889, it is named after Saint Anselm of Canterbury. As of 2024, the college's enrollment was 2,094 students. History ...

, where he served as student body president. He graduated from Saint Anselm with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in politics, and later received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from

Roger Williams University School of Law Roger Williams University School of Law is the law school of Roger Williams University, a private university in Bristol, Rhode Island. It is the only law school in Rhode Island. It was established in 1993 as the first graduate degree program of R ...

. He later started a law firm in Bangor. In 2012 he was elected to the Maine House of Representatives. From December 2014 until his resignation, he represented the 124th district, which includes parts of Bangor and Orono.

Maine Attorney General

In December 2018, Democrats in the Maine Legislature chose Frey as their nominee for Maine Attorney General. Upon his nomination, he resigned his house seat to comply with a constitutional provision that prohibits state legislators from being elected to higher offices. He succeeded

Janet Mills Janet Trafton Mills (born December 30, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2019 as the 75th governor of Maine. She previously served as Maine Attorney General. A member of the Democratic Party, Mills was first elected a ...

, who was elected Governor of Maine. Upon taking office, Frey stated that he would consider involving Maine in multi-state lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies. He later joined a lawsuit accusing drug manufacturers of price inflation. In February 2019, Frey became one of sixteen state attorneys general to join a lawsuit against the Trump administration over

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Trump's decision to declare a

national emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

. The emergency declaration was made to allow the President to allocate funding for a wall on the

United States-Mexico border United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. In April 2023, Frey announced that he was in a romantic relationship with an employee under his direct supervision in the Attorney General's Office and called it "an error in judgment" to not reassign the employee to a new supervisor. In an email to office staff, Frey identified the employee as an Assistant Attorney General and disclosed that the relationship had begun in August 2022. The revelation was made after the ''

Bangor Daily News The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine. The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig an ...

'' began investigating tips about Frey's relationship. After publicly disclosing the relationship, he transferred supervision of the person to chief deputy attorney general Christopher Taub. An independent workplace assessment report found no fault with how the Attorney General's Office handled the situation. He was reelected in 2024.

References

External links

Maine Attorney General
government website
Aaron Frey
profile at Vote Smart
Aaron Frey
profile at National Association of Attorneys General
Aaron Frey
profile at Democratic Attorneys General Association {{DEFAULTSORT:Frey, Aaron 1970s births Living people 21st-century members of the Maine Legislature Maine attorneys general Democratic Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Politicians from Bangor, Maine Roger Williams University alumni Saint Anselm College alumni Year of birth missing (living people)