The incumbent Attorney General, Democrat Josh Kaul, and Fond du Lac County District Attorney Republican Eric Toney, held their first and likely only debate Sunday morning.
The current race presents a rematch of the 2022 attorney general election, where Kaul defeated Toney by just over one point.
The two candidates discussed the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Wisconsin seeking voter data, the state crime lab, Flock cameras, gun legislation and crime trends.
Throughout the debate, Toney frequently attacked Kaul for the current state crime labs. Kaul repeatedly pointed to crime rates falling throughout the state, yet rising in Toney’s district, with felonies up from 300-400 per year to 1,000 per year over the past 15 years.
Trump administration lawsuits
Kaul has frequently joined other attorney generals in suing the Trump administration, bringing over 70 lawsuits in the past two years. His lawsuits have included the protection of education funding, public health, birthright citizenship and absentee voting.
“One of the things I think is critical is that our attorney general is protecting the state of Wisconsin,” Kaul said. “When Wisconsinites are getting hurt, I think absolutely the attorney general should stand up, and we have done that repeatedly under my administration.”
When asked if he would have joined any of the lawsuits, Toney said he would make those decisions “based on the facts in the law.”
“As attorney general, I’ll absolutely step in when we’re seeing a harm to Wisconsin that is unlawful, and not otherwise protected,” Toney said.
Toney criticized Kaul’s approach to the lawsuits, saying “What we’ve seen from the attorney general is it depends on who’s in the White House and who’s in the governor’s office when he makes those types of decisions.”
Trump voting data lawsuit
The Trump administration is currently suing the state of Wisconsin for not handing over personal voter data. The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission said the move would violate state law.
“I’ll defend the state laws we have in Wisconsin,” Toney said, when asked if he would give up the voter rolls to the White House. “I’m going to make those decisions working with the attorneys to make sure that those decisions are based on the facts and the law, not who’s in the White House.”
The Trump administration said the lawsuit is an effort to prevent fraud and to protect undocumented immigrants from voting in elections. Kaul said giving up voter data “would be against Wisconsin law.”
“Our bipartisan election commission has made it clear they can’t lawfully overturn that information,” Kaul said.
State crime lab efficiency
The attorney general oversees the state crime lab, which conducts forensic testing and analysis for cases across Wisconsin. Testing includes DNA analysis, rape kits, toxicology reports and controlled substance analysis. Kaul and Toney have frequently disputed over the handling of the lab in the lead up to the election.
A recent audit of the crime lab found that wait times for data have continued to increase, with times increasing by just under 50% from 2022 to 2024.
“What is not acceptable to me is that the Legislature, specifically Eric Toney’s political allies in the legislature, have continued to deny the resources we’ve requested,” Kaul said. “I have asked for significant investments in the crime lab and specifically for DNA analysts in each of the last two state budgets, and in each of those budgets the Legislature provided zero additional DNA analysts.”
Kaul has requested 35 new positions for the state crime lab over the past two state budgets and has only received three.
Toney, who has been very critical of Kaul’s handling of the crime lab in the lead up to the election and has said he will make reform of the crime lab a top priority, put the blame for crime lab issues on Kaul, not the Legislature.
Flock cameras and body cameras
Throughout Wisconsin in recent months, several municipalities have ended their contracts with Flock over privacy concerns and reports of data misuse. Both candidates advocated for the implementation of statewide guardrails for Flock camera usage, while also acknowledging the use they can provide.
“We’re going to need additional action from the Legislature and the governor to take some guardrails and put them in place,” Toney said. “We have seen them take dangerous criminals off the streets.”
Toney said he would want specific penalties for law enforcement employees who misuse data from Flock cameras. Multiple Wisconsin police officers have been charged with illegal surveillance and tracking using the cameras.
Kaul also said the state should have guardrails on the cameras, but noted the usefulness of the cameras, saying they can aid law enforcement in Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts and homicide investigations.
“What I would like to see are rules in place that first make it clear what kinds of offenses and situations the cameras can be used in,” Kaul said.
The candidates were also asked about the mandate of body cameras for law enforcement, in reference to the July shooting of Corey Ruiz by Madison police. Both candidates agreed that body cameras should be used at a statewide basis, while acknowledging failure of the Legislature to provide adequate resources.
Legislation and crime trends
In his time as attorney general, Kaul has advocated for red flag laws, which would allow courts to temporarily take guns from somebody deemed a danger, as well as stricter background checks, but has been unsuccessful.
Kaul acknowledged that violent crime rates have fallen without those regulations, but said more work needs to be done.
“Crime overall is at its lowest number in decades, and violent crime is the lowest number since 2011,” Kaul said. “Keeping guns out of the hands of people we know to be dangerous keeps folks safe.” He said firearm purchases need proper background checks to keep communities safe.
Toney said there is adequate due process for those who are deemed dangerous, like those “experiencing mental disease of defect.” He said after treatment, these people could own guns again.
“They can have their firearm rights taken away, but they can also petition to have those rights returned to them,” Toney said. He also referred back to improving crime labs to prevent dangerous people from having guns and criticized Kaul for failing to strengthen crime labs.
The general election is set for Nov. 3.
