AG office unlikely to change tune with Schimel’s election

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Wisconsin’s attorney general’s office will soon be making its transition from one Republican to the next, but those who watch the office say the changeover is likely not going to result in much overall change.

Republican Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel defeated challenger Susan Happ in Tuesday’s election by taking 52 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Associated Press. The Democratic Jefferson County DA had 45 percent of the votes, while Libertarian candidate Thomas Nelson received 3 percent.

Schimel, come January, will replace J.B. Van Hollen, who decided not to run for a third term.

Schimel had the support of Van Hollen, who endorsed the Waukesha County DA early in the race. But aside from a few differences, such as the choice to recuse the office from the John Doe proceeding or restructuring the way the office handles child pornography tips, those with knowledge of the office say it will likely not change much.

“My opinion is that the essential policies of the attorney general’s office are unlikely to change ,” said Lester Pines, an attorney with Cullen Weston Pines & Bach LLP, Madison.

Schimel did not immediately return a message Wednesday.

Pines, who has gone against Van Hollen’s office in such high-profile cases as voter ID laws and Act 10, also said he hopes Schimel, unlike his predecessor, will not give preferential treatment to the attorneys he puts into the Special Litigation & Appeals Unit. That unit is designed to handle, in large part, the cases with much public interest.

“The current attorney general has politicized the office in terms of how assistant attorney generals are allocated to staff cases and, in doing so, ignored the talents of many long term civil servants,” Pines said.

Van Hollen’s spokeswoman, Dana Brueck, emailed a statement attributed to Van Hollen late Wednesday afternoon that said Schimel’s election “is positive for public safety and the rule of law in Wisconsin.”

“I have every expectation Brad will administer the department with integrity and respect for the rule of law,” Van Hollen’s statement reads.

Schimel had said on the campaign trail that, if elected, he would defend all state laws passed by the Legislature. That was his attempt to distance himself from Happ, who said there were certain laws she would not defend.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said during a news conference Wednesday that he was “ecstatic” Schimel was elected. In talking about his agenda for the next Legislative session, Vos said, “I assume that whoever had been [elected] they would have defended the laws the Legislature democratically passed,” though he did talk about Happ saying she would not defend some of the state’s laws.

Vos also said he would like to meet with Schimel to get his thoughts on revamping the John Doe proceedings in Wisconsin, following a probe and a lengthy, yet-to-be-resolved court battle over whether district attorneys could perform an investigation.

Schimel has also said that he would work with the Legislature to move the office that oversees the state’s district attorneys to under the Department of Justice, instead of under the Department of Administration where it currently resides.

“As long as nothing’s on fire, they don’t really do much for us” he said of the DOA’s support at a debate last week. Follow @eheisigWLJ