AUBURN – About 75 men and women who work for the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office – mostly patrol deputies and correctional officers – plan to meet on Oct. 30 to weigh the candidates for sheriff.

“I don’t know which way it’ll go,” said Sgt. David Trafford, president of department’s labor union. “But we don’t want to sit out this time.”

In June, when Sheriff Ronald Gagnon and former Chief Deputy Guy Desjardins vied for the democratic nomination, the union remained neutral.

Desjardins won by a narrow 43 votes. His name will appear alone on the Nov. 7 ballot for sheriff.

However, Gagnon announced Thursday that he planned to mount a write-in campaign.

When Trafford arrived at work on Friday morning, several messages from union members were waiting for him. All asked for an endorsement vote on the sheriff’s race.

The labor union, Local 1828 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, represents most of the full-time workers inside the sheriff’s office. Besides patrol deputies and correctional officers, its members include Trafford, the department’s only full-time civil division deputy, and several clerical workers.

Though members will be asked to support Desjardins or Gagnon, they may also choose to endorse neither one, Trafford said.

The union membership will be polled during two different meetings, needed to reach people who work round-the-clock shifts.

The union will likely release its results as soon as the votes are counted, Trafford said.