Wayland Town Crier 9/6/14: Middlesex DA race highlights local ballots. A high-profile race for the top law enforcement position in Middlesex County highlights a slate of local primary contests on the ballot Tuesday. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, who was appointed to the post in 2013 by Gov. Deval Patrick, will fend off a challenge by Cambridge Democrat Michael Sullivan. With no Republican on the ballot, the primary contest between Ryan – a longtime county prosecutor from Belmont – and Sullivan, the Middlesex clerk of courts, will decide the future of the office, which has been at the center of criminal cases that captured statewide attention in recent years.