EX-U.S. ATTORNEY RUNNING FOR AG
By By David Callender The Capital Times
Pledging to "restore integrity" to the office of state attorney general, former U.S. Attorney J.B. Van Hollen became the latest Republican to announce plans to challenge incumbent Democrat Peg Lautenschlager.
At a Capitol news conference today, Van Hollen said Lautenschlager "undermines the significance of the office" by not cooperating more closely with local law enforcement officials on such issues as combating methamphetamine and defending Wisconsin against terrorism.
He said he would not make an issue out of Lautenschlager's drunken driving arrest last year, but added that "that is part of why integrity needs to be restored" to the office.
Van Hollen is the latest Republican to announce plans to challenge Lautenschlager. He joins Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher, who announced his plans earlier this year, and state Rep. Mark Gundrum, R-New Berlin, who has not officially entered the race yet.
Van Hollen said Lautenschlager has not reached out to local law enforcement. He cited homeland security as an instance where the attorney general should coordinate the state's response to potential terrorist threats.
He said that as U.S. attorney, he determined there are a number of "glaring gaps" in the state's defenses, but declined to give specifics.
Asked how the public could evaluate the seriousness of those gaps -- and the appropriateness of the government's response -- Van Hollen responded, "You have to trust the government."
Van Hollen is a graduate of the UW Law School. Gov. Tommy Thompson appointed him district attorney of Ashland County in 1993; in 2002, President Bush chose him as Lautenschlager's successor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Madison, where he was responsible for criminal prosecutions for a 44-county region.
Lautenschlager's campaign manager Mike Murphy declined to respond specifically to Van Hollen's comments this morning. He said Lautenschlager "has an outstanding record of keeping our streets and our children and the elderly protected in Wisconsin. She's standing up to anyone who threatens the economic and personal security of the people of Wisconsin."