How do you do an interview without the person you’re supposed to be interviewing?
It’s a question WUWM has been grappling with as some Wisconsin politicians have been unwilling to speak with us. This week on Lake Effect, you’ve heard from the Democratic politicians running for three big offices in Wisconsin: governor, U.S. senator and attorney general. But you haven’t heard from any of the Republican candidates, including Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney.
>> Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul shares his policies and hopes for a second term
We invited Toney to speak with WUWM on air to share some of his policy positions through several emails and phone calls and he did not agree to an interview by our deadline.
The mission of our election coverage is to tell people what their elected officials and political candidates believe in, what they plan to do in office, hold them accountable and correct misinformation. To do that, we’re going to look at Toney’s record and his policy proposals as we understand them.
Public safety
Toney has said public safety is his top priority. He comes from a law enforcement family and says he backs the badge.
Here is Toney talking about his prosecution record at the most recent debate: “You name it, I have personally prosecuted cold case homicide, sexual assault, domestic violence, racketeering, complex drug conspiracies, and I'm proud to be law enforcement choice with 83% of our Wisconsin sheriff's that have endorsed me and it's bipartisan.”
Toney wants the attorney general’s office to have prosecution power in Milwaukee County. So he can “take on cases that they’re unable and unwilling to prosecute in Milwaukee.”
Gun policy
Toney supports gun access. He opposes red flag laws, which keep guns out of the hands of people who a judge has found to be a danger to themselves or others, and says these laws serve to restrict people’s lawful right to exercise their constitutional Second Amendment rights. Toney also says that Wisconsin has laws on the books that guarantee due process rights for any firearm restrictions.
He said, “What we need to do is enforce the laws that we have on the books. You talk about someone that's a danger to themselves or others with a major mental illness that's treatable. Chapter 51 mental health commitment — the law is on the books where somebody can get in front of a judge within 72 hours, a jury trial within two weeks and have their firearm rights taken from them. We need to enforce the law we have on the books."
Abortion
Abortion is another major issue in the AG race because they are the top authority when it comes to enforcing state laws and operate with a great deal of discretion. Right now, there’s an 1849 law in Wisconsin that bans most abortions. Toney has repeated that he will “enforce the rule of law” whether it aligns with his “pro-life beliefs or not."
He said, “I've said I will defend any additional exception that the Legislature passes. The governor of Wisconsin said he wouldn't even sign an exception that had rape or incest because it didn't go far enough. We need an attorney general that's not going to pick and choose when to enforce the rule of law, even if they disagree, because that's what we expect in the courtroom. Equal justice under the law for all, not just when you agree.”
Toney has walked back a statement he made about cross-jurisdictional abortion prosecution. Toney said the attorney general should be given the authority to prosecute violations of the state’s abortion law anywhere in the state or allow local prosecutors in adjacent counties to enforce the ban. In the most recent debate, he said the law does not allow prosecution for crossing state lines but that he would “trust our prosecutors across Wisconsin to use their discretion and handle things on a case by case basis.”
A debate moderator said, “You have said in a recent interview that you believe district attorneys in [adjoining] counties should be able to cross county lines and prosecute violations of Wisconsin's ... criminal abortion ban if a local DA denies to take that case. Now, state law currently doesn't give DAs the authority to cross county lines to prosecute crimes such as drug offenses or homicides, except in very narrow instances which typically needs an order from a judge. Why would you single out a violation of the abortion statute to give DAs that power?”
Toney answered, “Well the again the premise of the question is incorrect because the whole context of the quote was asked about DAs that wouldn't prosecute certain crimes, and we have a couple statutes on the books right now — election fraud and state ethics codes — that actually allow a district attorney to prosecute in an adjoining county, if the DA of that county refuses to prosecute. So I use it as an analogy to say our attorney general should have authority if a DA is refusing to prosecute and that would be another option. I never expressly advocated for it. We were talking about the authority of the attorney general.”
Environment
Attorneys general can shape a state's environmental protections by supporting or challenging regulations. They can also influence national environmental policy by joining lawsuits or federal court cases. Toney does not have anything on his candidate website about environmental stewardship, but says he “supports curtailing unlawful administrative overreach.”
Here’s what he said when asked if he would continue a lawsuit Attorney General Josh Kaul filed over PFAs: “I have a record as a district attorney of protecting our environment. I'm a cross country and track runner, love being outside. I've done seven marathons. I will protect our water, I will protect our air and we've protected our sturgeon population on Lake Winnebago, we've protected it against invasive species and I was attacked for that during the Republican primary and I did not back down and so I will fight to protect our environment. And one thing we'll do is review every single case that's been filed to see what direction we're going to go. I'm not going to prejudge some cases that I haven't had a chance to look at all of the information, but I will protect our environment."
Election integrity
On election integrity, Toney “strongly supports improving and defending Wisconsin election laws.” He says he’s prosecuting more election fraud than anyone in Wisconsin.
Toney filed a lawsuit calling for the removal of five election commission members, alleging they broke the law in 2020. He says he wants to “hold the Wisconsin Election Commission Board accountable for their actions in 2020.”
Here's Toney: “I've been the most vocal statewide Republican candidate that we cannot decertify the election. It should not happen, and that there was no widespread voter fraud that would have overturned the results of the election. But I am prosecuting people for election fraud. We've already convicted two people from the November 2020 election.”
Five other election fraud cases brought by Toney remain open. He says the attorney general is responsible for defending state law, including issuing opinions to clarify the law or filing lawsuits to defend our election laws. He wants Wisconsin to have uniform rules applied to each county, and expects litigation to continue as long as state agencies have the ability to make rules outside of the legislature.
Wisconsin's midterm elections are Tuesday, November 8, 2022. If you have a question about voting or the races, submit it below or check out WUWM's voter guide.
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