Contact: Courtney Beyer, courtneyb@wisdems.org
MADISON — During the course of three debates with Democratic challenger Josh Kaul, Attorney General Brad Schimel categorically refused to take any accountability for the failures of his administration. Schimel made excuse after excuse when confronted with his misplaced priorities, offering political double talk when asked about his handling of Wisconsin’s rape kit backlog and opioid crisis.
“There’s no denying that as Attorney General, Brad Schimel has left Wisconsin worse off and less safe,” said Courtney Beyer, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson. “That Schimel offered excuse after excuse to voters for his failures in office shows that Wisconsin needs an attorney general who will step up to the responsibilities of the job and take them seriously, because Brad Schimel certainly won’t.”
Here are the main takeaways from Wisconsin’s Attorney General debates:
Brad Schimel still refuses to take accountability for slow testing of the rape kit backlog. While Brad Schimel has declared “Mission Accomplished” in the delayed testing of Wisconsin’s rapekit backlog, he failed to provide a reasonable explanation of why he tested only 9 rape kits in his first two years in office despite receiving $4 million in funding to swiftly test the backlog. He also failed to explain why he shot down legislative efforts that would have expedited testing of the backlog. And as Josh Kaul rightly noted, not a single person has been prosecuted as a result of those kits being tested. The ultimate goal of testing the kits is to deliver justice for survivors and remove dangerous criminals from the streets–and Brad Schimel has failed.
Brad Schimel couldn’t defend his neglect of the opioid crisis. When asked by challenger Josh Kaul why he refused to respond to credible analysis that opioid manufacturers were responsible for the opioid crisis, Brad Schimel deflected. He could offer no reasonable explanation why he refused to join a bipartisan lawsuit to hold opioid manufacturers accountable, ducking from the fact that his special interest backers RAGA are overwhelmingly bankrolled by Big Pharma. Under Schimel’s watch, opioid-related deaths have spiked 43% and emergency room visits for suspected overdoses have risen a staggering 109%.
Speaking of special interest backers…
Brad Schimel stood by his extreme views on gun safety that leave Wisconsin less safe. Schimel showed continued support for the extreme idea of arming teachers and refused when directly asked to support common-sense gun safety reforms that the majority of Wisconsinites support. Of course this comes as little surprise for someone who’s been the benefactor of NRA spending and support.
