Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced his bid for reelection Monday in Milwaukee, the first stop in a statewide tour of various Wisconsin cities that included Madison Tuesday.
Van Hollen is currently serving his first term as the state’s attorney general and was the only Republican in the country to gain a statewide seat held by a Democrat in the 2006 election.
According to a statement from Van Hollen, he has bi-partisan support from 61 sheriffs and 50 district attorneys from across Wisconsin for his reelection.
“Van Hollen has spent an entire career fighting for public safety,” said Chirag Shah, spokesperson for Van Hollen’s campaign. “He is the only candidate who has spent time prosecuting cases.”
Scott Hassett, the Democratic candidate running against Van Hollen and former secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, has not prosecuted one case throughout his entire career, Shah added.
The attorney general is running on the message he has run on before: fight crime with integrity, Shah said. Van Hollen will work on delivering the promises he has made to the public.
“This year, he worked with both Republicans and Democrats to allocate resources to bring down the backlog of DNA evidence in the crime lab,” Shah said. “Van Hollen wants to make Wisconsin streets safer.”
The Wisconsin Professional Police Association also declared its official endorsement of Van Hollen on Monday. The organization endorsed Van Hollen the last time he ran for attorney general.
“We believed [Van Hollen] was the most qualified candidate then, and we continue to believe he is the most qualified candidate today,” spokesperson Jim Palmer said.
Van Hollen has extensive prosecutorial experience on the local and state levels and he has pledged to work with law enforcement, Palmer added.
Hassett said he is not worried about running against an incumbent because Van Hollen has to run on his record.
“He has done some very partisan political things that he has to answer for,” Hassett said. “Most recently, [Van Hollen] wanted to sue the federal government to stop the national health care legislation.”
Hassett added he has worked with law enforcement throughout his entire career.
“My campaign is going to focus on issues like environmental protection, consumer protection and the criminal justice system in Wisconsin, which is underfunded and undermanned,” Hassett said.
Graeme Zielinski from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin said he thinks Van Hollen is not the ?peoples’ lawyer? he should be.
“Instead of protecting public safety, Van Hollen is filing frivolous lawsuits at the command of his Republican masters,” Zielinski said.
Running against an incumbent is an uphill climb in any election, but Hassett understands this, Zielinski added. He is ready to restore a sense of moderation to the attorney general’s office and not be at the bidding of special interest groups.
“[Hassett] understands that when it comes to the administration of justice, it doesn’t matter if there is a D or an R behind your name,” Zielinski said.
