Here & Now

Kaul on 2022 Attorney General Run

Frederica Freyberg:

Now to the 2022 election and another incumbent for statewide office announcing a run for re-election. Last month Governor Tony Evers said he’ll run again. This week, Attorney General Josh Kaul announced his plans for re-election. Out of law school, Kaul clerked in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He then worked in private practice for a Washington D.C. law firm and as a federal prosecutor in Baltimore. He joined a Madison law firm in 2014 and specialized in voter rights cases. In 2018 Kaul defeated then-incumbent attorney general Brad Schimel. Two Republicans have also announced their election bids in this race. We have reached out to their campaigns to schedule interviews. Tonight we are joined by incumbent Attorney Josh Kaul and thanks very much for being here.

Josh Kaul:

Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

So in this state of a nearly evenly-split electorate and when you narrowly won your first term against a Republican, why should voters across Wisconsin re-elect you?

Josh Kaul:

Well, my top priority as attorney general has been public safety and I’m really proud of the work we have done to protect Wisconsinites from crime as well as protecting people’s health, our environment and our democracy. As you mentioned, I was a federal prosecutor in one of the most violent cities in the country. I prosecuted murderers, gang members and drug traffickers. And as attorney general, my administration has worked on prioritizing the most serious offenses and DOJ has investigated and prosecuted everything from homicides and arsons to sexual assaults and drug trafficking offenses. We’re also, though, going further. We filed suit against Purdue Pharma for example and the state soon is hopefully going to be recovering about $65 million to help us fight the opioid epidemic. Getting those kind of resources to our communities in the long term are going to make a real difference.

Frederica Freyberg:

What kind of headwinds do you face from partisans on the other side of the aisle with whom you disagree on most everything, from kind of gun control and universal background checks to redistricting reform to environmental protection law and more?

Josh Kaul:

Well, on public safety, you know, the partisan gridlock we’ve seen is a frustration because we could be doing more to make our communities safer if we had more cooperation. You mentioned gun safety measures. Having universal background checks for example would help us keep firearms out of the hands of people who have been convicted of crimes. Reforming our sexual assault kit logs to make sure we have a process in place that will prevent there ever from being another background — backlog, will make our communities safer. Despite the challenges we’ve had from the Legislature, which began with the lame duck legislation before I even took office, we’ve gotten a lot accomplished for the people of Wisconsin and I’m really proud of that record.

Frederica Freyberg:

One of your challenges on that as to your relationship with the

Legislature says that, “you have ignored, attacked and offended the Legislature on so many issues and to such a degree that you cannot successfully work with them.” How do you respond to that?

Josh Kaul:

Well, that’s just not correct. We worked closely with the Legislature on a number of issues and I’m happy to work with anybody where we can make progress for the people of Wisconsin. We just had the budget passed, for example. We were in regular communication with legislators but I’m also willing to stand up to the Legislature if they’re doing something that’s not in the best interest of the people of Wisconsin. I think it’s vital that we have an independent attorney general who is willing to stand up for what’s right and who’s a watchdog for the people of Wisconsin, not somebody who’s just going to do what the Legislature wants them to do.

Frederica Freyberg:

As you’ve enumerated, you have seen some major wins. What would you say are your proudest achievements in your first term to date?

Josh Kaul:

One thing I’m really proud of is the work that we’ve done on the backlog of untested sexual assault kits. During my campaign against Brad Schimel that was a major issue and he rushed to get a number of them tested before the election. When we took office we tested a little over 300 additional kits and finished the testing but we also reviewed every case in which there was a DNA match, went through those. That led to some investigations as well as some prosecutions. There was recently a person arrested with charges in Kenosha County whose DNA had matched to four different sexual assault kits. That’s an alleged serial offender who’s off the street because of that work. That’s one area where I’m incredibly proud of our work but also holding big pharma accountable for their role in the opioid epidemic, withdrawing from the lawsuit challenging the ACA and standing up for our environment and democracy are key accomplishments.

Frederica Freyberg:

With just about a minute left, as the so-called top cop in the state, what is the balance in your mind between public safety and police reform, which you have called for?

Josh Kaul:

I think they go hand in hand. I think criminal justice reform more broadly and public safety go hand in hand because there are so many changes we can make that will both make our communities safer and make our system fairer and build strong community law enforcement relationships. So one great example of that is investing in community policing and violence prevention programs. When we can build strong relationships between law enforcement and the communities in which they work, that’s helpful to public safety because we get better information for law enforcement. We can better identify the most serious offenders but it also builds those kinds of strong relationships that can help advance the goal of stronger relations between the community and law enforcement.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Attorney General Josh Kaul, thanks very much.

Josh Kaul:

Thanks for having me.