U.S. ATTORNEY EYES RUN FOR AG
VAN HOLLEN TO RESIGN JAN. 31
By By Kevin Murphy Correspondent for The Capital Times\ The writer retains the copyright for this article
After announcing his resignation as United States attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, J.B. Van Hollen said Tuesday he is mulling a run for state attorney general.
Van Hollen, 38, said he will enter private legal practice until he is ready to announce any political plans.
"I'm definitely considering running for attorney general, but now I'm a U.S. attorney until Jan. 31, and federal law prohibits me from running for office until then." he said.
Van Hollen is looking to follow in the footsteps of Democratic Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, who was also a U.S. attorney in Madison. The U.S. attorney's post is a political appointment; Lautenschlager left the office in 2001 after President Bush was elected, then ran for the attorney general position a year later.
Van Hollen said increasing gun crime prosecutions, working closer with law enforcement agencies within the district and increasing his office's efficiency were his goals when he took office. He said he has largely accomplished those objectives.
"Instead of just adding to those accomplishments, I feel it's now time to move on and try something else," he said.
Van Hollen, a former assistant U.S. attorney, also served as district attorney in Bayfield and Ashland counties in northern Wisconsin.
"His name has been floated out there as a potential attorney general candidate, but I don't know if he has formed a campaign committee," said Chris Lato, spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher also is reportedly considering challenging Lautenschlager, as is state Rep. Mark Gundrum, R-New Berlin. There are also rumors that at least one Democrat -- possibly Corrections Secretary Matt Frank -- is considering a primary challenge to Lautenschlager, who was convicted of drunken driving in a high-profile case last year.
During Van Hollen's time as U.S. attorney, the number of criminal cases filed has increased significantly -- from 186 in 2003 to 211 in 2004. The office has added a few prosecutors to handle the increased caseload.
Van Hollen ranks the prosecution last year of James Perry, dubbed by media as "the mall rapist," among the notable prosecutions conducted during his term in office. Perry, formerly of Stoughton, pleaded guilty to child pornography charges and was sentenced to 180 years in prison before being convicted in Dane County Circuit Court on sexual assault charges involving 19 victims.
"Perry committed heinous crimes," Van Hollen said in a prepared statement. "He's the type of criminal who should be off our streets for as long as possible, and as a result of our prosecutions he will be serving the rest of his life in prison."
Van Hollen said he and his staff have visited agencies in all of the district's 44 counties.
"Working together, we prosecuted the district's worst offenders," he said in the statement. "And as a result of our joint efforts the number of crimes successfully prosecuted in federal court increased in each year of my term."