GOP attorney general candidates go to bat for police

With the next election for Wisconsin attorney general still 15 months away, two Republican candidates have already stepped forward to challenge incumbent Democrat Josh Kaul.

Ryan Owens and Eric Toney appeared Aug. 9 at the invitation of the Shawano County Republican Party to discuss their views on a series of questions posed by a panel of retired law enforcement officers. The two candidates shared similar views on a number of issues, especially on the question of whether Kaul has been an effective attorney general.

Toney, who has been the Fond du Lac County district attorney since 2013, said he decided to run for attorney general after Kaul failed to support law enforcement time and again.

“I could not sit back and watch as our law enforcement had their backs against the wall like they’ve never had in their entire professional career, and we had an attorney general who failed to stand with them and turned his back on them,” Toney said.

Owens, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership, said the incumbent attorney general has not prioritized criminal law enforcement.

“Josh Kaul has done his utmost to make sure that the resources necessary to enforce the law aren’t available,” Owens said. While former attorney general Brad Schimel worked with district attorneys in northern Wisconsin who needed assistance on drug prosecutions and other complicated cases, “Josh Kaul gets into office and what does he do? He yanks them. He says we’re not going to help you out.”

Kaul came to Madison with a liberal agenda that has made the average citizen’s life less safe and less free, Owens said.

“I think we need to have an attorney general who will stand with law enforcement and stand against government overreach,” he said.

Toney said Kaul has left vacant a number of positions in the attorney general’s office that are supposed to help local law enforcement. The son of a retired police officer, Toney noted that four Capitol police officers committed suicide in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 disruption at the U.S. Capitol and called it an example of the enormous stress on police and resulting mental health issues.

“That is something that I would make sure law enforcement knows: I have their back not just when they’re on duty, but when they’re off duty,” Toney said. “We have to make sure that we restore prosecutors that Josh Kaul has cut from his agency, the key DCI (Division of Criminal Investigation) positions that he’s left unfilled,” adding that the State Crime Lab is falling behind in testing evidence for local prosecutors.

Both candidates condemned calls to defund police departments.

“This kind of left-wing ‘defund the police’ stuff, not only does it stagger the mind, it’s also stupid,” Owens said, noting that the same critics call for more community police officers to interact in neighborhoods. “How in the world are you going to do that if you’re not funding law enforcement officers to get on the ground?”

“Defund the police is dangerous. It’s reckless, and it’s irresponsible,” Toney agreed. “Law enforcement needs more resources.”

On a question whether there is a trend to overcharge law enforcement officers over the use of force, both candidates again criticized Kaul.

“Police officers have the same right to defend themselves as you or I would if we were attacked or someone threatened us with great bodily harm,” Toney said. “Law enforcement cannot be held to a different standard, and that’s what Josh Kaul wants to do.”

Owens said categorically that he supports the concept of qualified immunity for law enforcement, which protects officers from personal liability unless they are determined to have violated an individual’s statutory or constitutional rights.

“The attorney general has thrown (law enforcement) under the bus, abdicated his responsibility,” Owens said. “They’re on their own because he has chosen to side with the left-wing radicals rather than with them.”

Richard Kucksdorf, chairman of the Shawano County Republican Party, said both men are outstanding candidates.

“The only winner tonight is going to be the Republican Party,” Kucksdorf said to kick off the evening.