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Schimel’s Bid For Attorney General Centers On Experience, Plaudits From Police

Republican Facing Susan Happ In November Has Been A Prosecutor For 24 Years

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Brad Schimel unveiled his plan to address the state's heroin problem at a press conference in the state Capitol in June. Photo: Gilman Halsted/WPR News.

Brad Schimel, the Republican candidate in the open race for attorney general, says he’s running as law enforcement’s choice for the office.

He also says his 24 years as a Waukesha County prosecutor means he has the experience needed to lead the Department of Justice. Schimel has been Waukesha County’s district attorney since 2006 and has been a county prosecutor since 1990.

He said he decided to go to law school when he finished his bachelor’s degree in political science at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

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“Because I had a political science degree in undergrad … that left me two choices: to become a bartender or got to law school,” Schimel said.

He said that when he started law school he envisioned himself joining a big law firm and making lots of money. But after interning in a prosecutor’s office, his career plans changed.

“There I really found my love, which was really being able to do justice,” said Schimel. “As a prosecutor, you get to do what you believe is right.”

He said for him that means being able to decide whether or not to prosecute someone.

“If the police refer them to you and you don’t believe they’re guilty, you don’t have to prosecute them — and frankly you shouldn’t prosecute them. Because if you don’t believe it, how on earth is a jury going to believe it?” he said.

Schimel has been endorsed by more than half of the state’s district attorneys and 50 county sheriffs, and his campaign ads tout his “tough on crime” record.

Over the past two months Schimel has rolled out a series of initiatives he promises to follow through on if elected. At the top of his list is more aggressive prosecution of heroin dealers who sell the drug for profit, as well as addicts who sell to support their habit.

“If you are selling heroin to other people to support your own habit, you know what you’re doing to other people,” he said. “If you are distributing heroin for any reason whatsoever, the end result’s going to be prison.”

Schimel’s opponent, Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ, also promises to make tackling the heroin trade a top priority. Schimel, however, said his two decades as a prosecutor makes him much better prepared to attack the problem than Happ, who’s been a DA for only six years.

Another big issue in the race is the role of the attorney general in defending state laws against constitutional challenges. Happ has said she would not defend laws she believes are unconstitutional, like Wisconsin’s same-sex marriage amendment.

“We must defend the right for people to marry who they love, the right for people to vote, the right to work for equal pay and the right to collectively bargain for a living wage,” Happ said. “As attorney general I will protect the values and the rights of all the people. I am prosecutor, not a politician.”

Schimel, on the other hands, said an attorney general’s job is to defend the laws the Legislature passes.

“You’re not in that position to make the policy decision or to exercise that discretion,” said Schimel. “That was the Legislature’s call. Your job as AG isn’t to intercede with your own opinion.”

With less than two weeks left before the election the Marquette University poll of likely voters shows the two in a dead heat at 42 percent, but more than half of poll respondents said they don’t know enough about either candidate to have an opinion. UW-Madison political scientist Barry Burden said those voters don’t seem to be paying attention to the debates or the candidate websites to learn more about the candidates. He said that means negative ads may be the only way to sway the undecided.

“Going after personal information is going to have a more immediate impact than something about policy or experience or those other kinds of criteria might,” Burden said.

Schimel’s campaign and the Republican Party have been running more attack ads in the weeks leading up to the election. Voters might expect to see more between now and Nov. 4.