In the first candidate forum in the race for state attorney general, two of the three Democrats vying for the job agreed on many issues, while also drawing clear lines when it comes to the experience they would bring to the office.
Dane County DA Ismail Ozanne and Jefferson County DA Susan Happ fielded questions at the forum in Madison on Tuesday night. State Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, was tied up in an Assembly session and couldn’t attend.
Both Ozanne and Happ agreed that if elected, they will likely not continue to represent the state in defending against the current legal challenges of the state’s voter ID law and the gay marriage ban. But when it comes to experience, Ozanne says his two-year stint as deputy secretary of the state prison system makes him the more competent candidate to run the Department of Justice.
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“I am the only candidate on the Republican or Democratic side with experience helping to lead a state agency – the Department of Correction, our largest agency, with 10,000 employees and a budget of $1.2 billion,” said Ozanne. “And let’s be clear: Experience matters.”
Happ says her six years running the prosecutor’s office in Jefferson County gives her the management experience necessary to run the Department of Justice. She says unlike Ozanne, she has proven her ability to win as a Democrat in a Republican district and will have a better shot at defeating the Republican candidate in the race – Waukesha DA Brad Schimel.
“I think the citizens of Wisconsin are tired of the partisanship,” said Happ. “Let’s start bringing people back together, and I’ve done that as a district attorney and I’ll do that as attorney general.”
Richards will have his chance to debate the other two at a forum on Wednesday night in Dodgeville.
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