Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne announced Thursday he will run for attorney general after several days of speculation.
Melissa Mulliken, spokesperson for Ozanne, said he worked as a prosecutor for 13 years before becoming district attorney for Dane County. She added he has devoted his career to making the community and families in Wisconsin safe.
“I’ve spent my career fighting to keep families and communities safe,” Ozanne said in an email sent to supporters Thursday. “And I’ll do the same as Wisconsin’s Attorney General.”
Ozanne will vie for the Democratic nomination along with Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, in the Democratic primary in August 2014.
Ozanne, who comes from a long line of Wisconsinites, said he plans to better the state and uphold tradition if elected as Attorney General.
“The legacy of my grandparents and parents and the promise of my daughters’ future inspire me every day: the importance of faith and family, the lessons of history, the imperative for justice and the power of the law,” Ozanne said. “That is what motivated me to become an attorney, to enter public service and what motivates me now to run for Attorney General.”
The Republican Party of Wisconsin released a statement after Ozanne’s announcement calling Ozanne “an extreme partisan.”
In the statement, Joe Fadness, Executive Director of RPW, said Ozanne has put public safety aside in favor of politics.
“As a leader in the Department of Corrections, Ozanne helped implement the failed Early Release program, which put hundreds of dangerous criminals back on the streets. Wisconsin can’t afford Ismael Ozanne as its top cop,” Fadness said.
The Early Release Program, implemented in 2010 by former Gov. Jim Doyle, allowed low-level inmates an earlier release from prison based on good behavior.
The program ended in 2011 when Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature passed a law to terminate it.
Ozanne worked at the Department of Corrections from 2008 to 2010 as executive secretary and as deputy secretary, and helped form the Early Release Program.
Mulliken said diversion programs have been proven to work because they hold defenders accountable while helping to turn their lives around at the same time.
Republicans should “refrain from fear mongering,” when criticizing Ozanne’s work with the DOC, Mulliken added.
