Attorney general candidates Republican J.B Van Hollen and Democrat Kathleen Falk met face-to-face at a debate Wednesday after weeks of pointing their fingers at each other's inexperience in law enforcement and prosecution.
Both Van Hollen and Falk's levels of experience were questioned as the two sparred over the backup at the crime lab, immigration and the possibility of terrorists living in Wisconsin.
The crime lab backup has been a largely discussed issue since the September primary, and was a key topic throughout the debate. Falk said she has teamed with Gov. Jim Doyle in order to add an extra $1.22 million in funding and employ 15 analysts to fix the current eight-month delay. Falk said even if there are no suspects in a case, she promises evidence will all be processed within 30 days. Falk said she plans to ""do more with less resources.""
Van Hollen said his opponent is ""criminally inexperienced"" to fix the backlog. He pledged to ""deliver for the people of Wisconsin and deliver to law enforcement by introducing a ""plan to change the resources and reprioritize"" the crime labs in order to eliminate the crime lab backlog.
While the two candidates said they had similar stances on immigrant rights, Van Hollen pointed to his record in law enforcement. He said his ""experience dealing with the problem ... will make sure illegal immigrants will be prosecuted."" Van Hollen stressed the difference between his opponents. ""For Falk its theory, for me it's fact. Look at my track record.""
Even though Falk is the Democratic candidate running for attorney general, she supports Bush's immigration policies. ""I will enforce and cooperate with whatever the federal government asks of the justice department,"" Falk said.
Van Hollen's controversial statement made last April about terrorists training on Wisconsin soil resurfaced during the debate. Van Hollen said he ""stands by his statement"" and it is ""naA_ve to believe otherwise.""
Falk said she plans on spending ""every moment making the communities of Wisconsin safer.""
