Eric Toney is hoping to replace Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul in November. To do that, he’s been criss-crossing the state to meet with voters and tell about his mission to bring better justice to Wisconsin.
Toney made two stops in Shawano County recently — visiting a Republican event Oct. 3 in Cecil followed by marching Oct. 4 in the Caroline Colorama Parade. In a phone interview with NEW Media, Toney said he’s visited all 72 counties in order to speak with as many voters as possible about how his plans for fighting crime in the state compare with Kaul’s.
“I’m continuing to meet people where they’re at and have an attorney general that’s going to put safety over politics,” Toney said.
Toney said he got a wake-up call three years ago when he learned that he needed to have open heart surgery at age 39 because of a defective aortic valve. That came as a surprise to the lifelong runner who had competed in marathons.
“For me, it was a calming feeling knowing that I’d lived a life that mattered as the district attorney in Fond du Lac County, where I was born and raised, and my dad was a police officer, and my grandpa lived the American dream of starting a small business without a college degree,” Toney said. “I knew I had lived a successful life protecting my community and my friends.”
He said that he knew, leading up to the surgery, that if he made it through alive, he would pursue his goal of running for attorney general, wanting to extend his protection further.
Forensic testing is a key issue for Toney’s platform, criticizing Kaul for promising faster action and not following through.
“Out of our 700 employees (in the Wisconsin Department of Justice), 200 of them work in our crime lab for the forensic testing for fingerprints, DNA, ballistics, drug testing, blood testing — all of that critical evidence law enforcement needs to take criminals off our streets and for prosecutors to hold them accountable,” Toney said. “Our attorney general has had nearly eight years of broken promises where he promised to fix forensic testing and said it was going to get faster, but instead he’s taking, on average, twice as long as his predecessor testing less DNA, despite more resources and technology.”
Kaul has instituted a hiring freeze in recent years, Toney said, not filling key forensic positions. He noted that, even if he is elected, it will take time to bring things back to a better place because of the amount of training required for forensic experts to testify in court cases.
“As attorney general, we’re going to put public safety over politics on day one, ensure there’s never a hiring freeze at our Department of Justice, and adopt formal performance metrics for our analysts to help support the great analysts we have to perform the testing we need to get done and eliminate the work-from-home policies that don’t allow those analysts to be in the lab for that forensic testing,” Toney said.
Another issue for Toney are feet on the street, especially in northern Wisconsin. He said that Kaul vowed to do more to address the growing fentanyl problem, but the attorney general eliminated four drug investigator positions in that part of the state.
“I’ll restore those positions, making sure our law enforcement has the help from our Department of Justice to go after those dangerous drug dealers to keep our community safe and lock up those who peddle fentanyl and other poison into our communities,” Toney said.
There’s also the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people, for which Toney is taking Kaul to task. Kaul has promised to release a report addressing the problems with solving crimes with Native American victims, but that has not happened, Toney said.
“As attorney general, I’ll make sure we have that report released, and we’ll make sure we work with our tribes to help women and Indigenous children across Wisconsin, and that we have an honest view of what’s happening,” Toney said. “Sadly, these types of delays and broken promises have become a pattern. He promised to release a report on a clergy faith-based leader investigation over four years ago that he’s failed to release. The city of Eau Claire has been waiting over a year and a half for an answer from our Department of Justice.”
Toney is boasting support from 75% of the county sheriffs in the state, including Oconto County’s Todd Skarban, Shawano County’s George Lenzner and Menominee County’s Rebecca Smith. Toney said this shows there needs to be a change in the Department of Justice.
“We’ve got them from all corners of the state,” Toney said of the endorsements. “Those that we trust most to keep us safe are trusting me to lead our Department of Justice and fix the broken promises to make sure our law enforcement has the support and resources they need to keep our community safe.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
