Kaul vs. Toney: AG Rematch Tests Two Visions
Two years after their first contest, the same two men meet again for Wisconsin's top law enforcement office, but the landscape has shifted beneath them. Josh Kaul, the Democratic incumbent, enters the rematch with the power of incumbency and a record defined by high-profile fights over abortion access and election administration. Eric Toney, the Fond du Lac County district attorney, returns with a message centered squarely on crime and public safety, arguing that Wisconsin needs a prosecutor's prosecutor in the attorney general's office rather than a political activist.
The race is more than a personality contest; it is a referendum on how Wisconsin defines the role of attorney general in an era of hyper-partisan litigation. Kaul has positioned the office as a check on legislative overreach and a defender of reproductive rights, while Toney has cast that approach as a distraction from core duties like prosecuting violent crime and supporting local law enforcement. Each man's pitch reflects a fundamentally different theory of the job, and voters will effectively choose between them.
A Race Shaped by Shifting Ground
The political terrain has changed since 2022. The state Supreme Court flipped to a liberal majority, altering the legal landscape on issues from abortion to redistricting. That shift cuts both ways for the candidates. It may relieve pressure on Kaul to litigate certain fights, since the court now leans his way on many questions, but it also hands Toney a sharper line of attack: that a Democratic attorney general and a liberal court together represent an unchecked agenda for the state.
Ultimately, the rematch hinges on turnout and message discipline. Kaul must convince suburban swing voters that his national-profile battles serve Wisconsin's interests, not just partisan ones. Toney must overcome the structural headwinds of challenging a Democratic incumbent in a state that has trended competitive in recent cycles. The outcome will signal not merely who holds the office, but which vision of the attorney general's role Wisconsin voters are willing to endorse.