Will the media ask Josh Kaul why he lists zero law enforcement endorsements or will they show bias by ignoring the question?
Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul lists ZERO law enforcement endorsements, as concern grows that he is politicizing the Department of Justice over public safety amidst historic homicide spikes, Wisconsin Right Now can reveal.
We scoured Kaul’s website, his social media, and his press releases, looking for a SINGLE law enforcement endorsement for the state’s “top cop.” We could find NONE. This is in direct contrast to his Republican opponent for Attorney General, Eric Toney, the Fond du Lac County District Attorney, who has a long list of law enforcement endorsements, some bipartisan.
The complete lack of law enforcement endorsements listed by Kaul is very unusual even for a Democratic official. Previously, liberal officials like Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson publicly touted law enforcement endorsements. Not Kaul. (In 2018, Kaul was endorsed by future President Joe Biden.)
“District Attorney Eric Toney is already endorsed by over 100 Sheriffs, District Attorneys, and Police Chiefs, and has been unanimously endorsed by the Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge, Milwaukee Police Association,” Toney’s website says.
Toney is also endorsed by the Racine Police Association and Milwaukee Police Supervisors Organization.
On Aug. 20, 2022, we wrote Kaul’s campaign and asked for a list of any law enforcement endorsements received by Kaul, including police chiefs, law enforcement associations, District Attorneys, and sheriffs. We received NO RESPONSE.
Will the other media ask?
Kaul proudly lists non law enforcement endorsements on his website, under different sections of his issue platform page, like the Clean Action Wisconsin Fund, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and End Citizens United. But under the law enforcement section, he lists none.
We looked through the news page on Kaul’s campaign website, where he touts crackdowns on robocalls and shares many stories about abortion, but we did not find a single law enforcement endorsement. We scoured his Twitter and Facebook pages to no avail. We did find that he routinely touts endorsements on those pages, but we could not find a single one related to law enforcement. Instead, he touts a union and left-wing partisan groups. In one tweet, he’s called the state’s “chief lawyer,” not the top cop.
We googled Kaul and endorsements and no law enforcement endorsements came up, just a union and left-wing partisan groups. Vote Smart lists no law enforcement endorsements for Josh Kaul.
Toney has criticized Kaul for delays in the state crime lab, politicizing the office and defunding its public safety mission by leaving prosecutor positions vacant.
Kaul’s endorsements are political or left-wing.
In addition to the police association endorsements, Toney lists the following:
Sheriffs
- Adams County Sheriff Brent York
- Bayfield County Sheriff Paul Susienka
- Brown County Sheriff Todd Delain
- Buffalo County Sheriff Michael Schmidtknecht
- Calumet County Sheriff Mark Wiegert
- Clark County Sheriff Scott Haines
- Columbia County Sheriff Roger Brandner
- Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt
- Dunn County Sheriff Kevin Bygd
- Eau Claire County Sheriff Ronald Cramer
- Florence County Sheriff Dan Miller
- Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt
- Grant County Sheriff Nate Dreckman
- Green Lake Sheriff Mark Podoll
- Iron County Sheriff Paul Samardich
- Juneau County Sheriff Brett Oleson
- Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth
- Kewaunee County Sheriff Matthew Joski
- La Crosse County Sheriff Jeff Wolf
- Lafayette County Sheriff Reg Gill
- Langlade County Sheriff Mark Westen
- Manitowoc County Sheriff Dan Hartwig
- Marathon County Sheriff Scott Parks
- Marinette County Sheriff Jerry Sauve
- Marquette County Sheriff Joe Konrath
- Monroe County Sheriff Wesley Revels
- Oconto County Sheriff Todd Skarban
- Oneida County Sheriff Grady Hartman
- Ozaukee County Sheriff Jim Johnson
- Pepin County Sheriff Joel Wener
- Pierce County Sheriff Nancy Hove
- Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling
- Rusk County Sheriff Jeff Wallace
- Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister
- Sawyer County Sheriff Doug Mrotek
- Shawano County Sheriff Adam Bieber
- Sheboygan County Sheriff Corey Roesler
- St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson
- Taylor County Sheriff Larry Woebbeking
- Walworth County Sheriff Kurt Picknell
- Waupaca County Sheriff Tim Wilz
- Washington County Sheriff Martin Schulteis
- Waushara County Sheriff Walter Zuehlke
- Winnebago County Sheriff John Matz
- Vernon County Sheriff John Spears
- Vilas County Sheriff Joseph Fath
- Sheriff Mylan Fink*
- Sheriff Gary Pucker*
- Sheriff Jim Gilmore*
- Sheriff David Graves*
Police Chiefs
- Greg Dieke
- Renee Schuster
- Sean Marschke (former President: Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association)
- Scout Louden
- Thomas Bishop
- Thomas Dornbrook
- William Wallner
- Gary Durkee
- Gary Rose
- Aaron Goldstein
- Paul Mott
- Nate Klapoetke
- Bryan Frank
- Kevin Fenske
- Russ Monacelli*
- Kevin Verdine*
- Dale Heeringa*
- Dave Lukoski*
- Tony Barthuly*
- William Lamb*
District Attorneys
- Brown County County DA David Lasee
- Calumet County DA Nathan Haberman
- Clark County DA Melissa Inlow
- Chippewa County DA Wade Newall
- Dodge County DA District Kurt Klomberg
- Douglas County DA Mark Fruehauf
- Green County DA Craig Nolan
- Iron County DA Matthew Tingstad
- Juneau County DA Kenneth Hamm
- Lafayette County DA Jenna Gill
- Langlade County DA Elizabeth Gebert
- Lincoln County DA Galen Bayne-Allison
- Manitowoc County DA Jacalyn LaBre
- Marinette County DA DeShea Morrow
- Monroe County DA Kevin Croninger
- Outagamie County DA Melinda Tempelis
- Oconto County DA Edward Burke
- Ozaukee County DA Attorney Adam Gerol
- Polk County DA Jeff Kemp
- Richland County DA Jennifer Harper
- Shawano County DA Greg Parker
- Sheboygan County DA Joel Urmanski
- St. Croix DA Karl Anderson
- Washington County DA District Mark Benson
- Waukesha County DA Susan Opper
- Waupaca County DA Veronica Isherwood
- Winnebago County DA Eric Sparr
- Winnebago County DA Christian Gossett*
- Fond du Lac County DA Tom Storm*
