GOP candidate for Wisconsin attorney general says he’s the candidate to enforce rule of law

The Republican prosecutor vying to unseat Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general says he is the candidate who would enforce the rule of law — regardless of whether it’s popular with his party.

Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney made the comments this week while appearing on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Central Time” to discuss his campaign. He is challenging incumbent Attorney General Josh Kaul in Tuesday’s election.

During the interview, Toney discussed public safety and enforcement of the state’s 1849 abortion ban, which have been frequent points of contention. Toney also said he would have state authorities step in to help handle cases that Milwaukee County lawyers are “unable or unwilling to prosecute.”

The following interview was edited for brevity and clarity.

Rob Ferrett: How has your time as district attorney shaped how you could perform as attorney general?

Eric Toney: My dad spent over 30 years as a police officer. I spent about two and a half years in private practice … doing criminal defense, mental health in juvenile law. And in a decade as the district attorney of Fond du Lac County — you name it, I personally prosecuted the cases in court using just about every resource our Department of Justice has to offer fighting for public safety and justice on behalf of victims to keep our community safe.

That’s what we need to get back to doing at our Department of Justice to make sure we’re supporting our law enforcement, our prosecutors, and making sure our Department of Justice is running as efficiently as possible to end the historic violence and drug epidemic that we’re seeing here in Wisconsin, coupling that with enforcing the rule of law that we don’t pick and choose when to do that. Those are priorities that we need to have in making public safety the No. 1 priority at our Department of Justice.

(We also need to give) our attorney general’s office the original prosecution authority in Milwaukee County to augment and help take on cases that the Milwaukee DA’s office might be unable or unwilling to prosecute, because that Milwaukee crime ends up spreading and bleeding across Wisconsin. If we can protect Milwaukee, we can protect all of Wisconsin, because it’s sad and tragic that Milwaukee is on pace for its third straight murder record and is likely to cross 200 murders for the first time in the city’s history.

READ MORE: Republican Eric Toney hammers ‘top cop’ image in bid for Wisconsin attorney general

RF: What specific measures would you take when it comes to gun violence?

ET: What we have to do is enforce the laws that we have on the books but also add mandatory minimums for violent criminals that are using guns — felons in possession of firearms — to make sure they know there are serious consequences to these crimes.

I was in Milwaukee on Juneteenth this year talking to folks in the street about what their No. 1 concern was. It was people using guns where parents don’t feel safe in their homes. They don’t feel safe in their vehicles. They won’t let children go to parks, because they’re afraid of stray bullets.

We’ve had over 20 kids murdered in Milwaukee this year. It’s like a slow-moving mass shooting moving through Milwaukee. We need to protect people in Milwaukee, because I refuse to accept this violence as the new normal.

READ MORE: Violent crime is up. Here’s how Wisconsin’s candidates for governor say they’ll tackle it.

RF: What are your thoughts on your opponent’s lawsuit to block the state’s 1849 abortion ban?

ET: The job of the attorney general is to enforce the rule of law, and I trust our district attorneys and prosecutors across Wisconsin to use their discretion and take things on a case-by-case basis. I’ve always said if the Legislature passes any additional exceptions, I will defend them as attorney general.

But it seems pretty clear our attorney general knows he’s wrong on the law, because if you think you’re right on the law, you ask the court for an injunction, restraining order, something to enjoin or stop the enforcement of a law. And that wasn’t done in this case, because it seems evident that he knows he’s wrong on the law.

The job of the attorney general is to enforce the rule of law — not pick and choose when to do that.

READ MORE: Incumbent attorney general says Wisconsin should focus on crimes other than violations of abortion ban

RF: What’s the right way for the attorney general to assist with investigations and prosecutions for this abortion ban?

ET: It’s no different than anything else. We take things on a case-by-case basis, and I’m not aware of a single prosecution or investigation here in Wisconsin since the change in the law. So, it’s not something most law enforcement or prosecutors across the state have dealt with, and it will likely continue to be that where we’re focused on the major public safety issues that we have in Wisconsin, (like) driving down the historic amount of violence and drugs.

If you look at my record as the district attorney of Fond du Lac County, it is (about) enforcing the rule of law, not just when it’s popular with my own party. We took a position on certain COVID-related things … with an even-handed approach of enforcing the rule of law, not just when we agreed with it.

RF: Would you have joined a national lawsuit from Texas’ attorney general and others questioning Wisconsin’s 2020 election results?

ET: I would not join it as attorney general. I’ve been the most vocal statewide Republican candidate saying that we cannot and should not decertify the election and that there has been no widespread voter fraud that would have overturned the results. I am prosecuting voter fraud cases in Wisconsin to protect the integrity of our election process.