State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced he won't run for another term. With the first open race since 2002, a number of candidates are entering the race.
One candidate is legislator and lawyer, Democrat Jon Richards of Milwaukee. Richards has been in the legislature for 14 years.
One key issue to him is strengthening Wisconsin's drunk driving laws.
"....we have a law that I authored that would expand the use of ignition interlock devices. I think we should expand those, even down to first time offenders. You have to blow into a tube to start your car. If people are having a problem with drunk driving we should make sure that's a part of their driving experience....'
He says suspects should have tougher penalties for first-offense drunk driving. He says we should also get rid of a law that takes away drunk driving offenses from a person's record after 10 years. He says those measures have passed by a wide majority in the Assembly, but are stalled in the state Senate.
He says he would strengthen the A.G.'s enforcement of consumer problems. He cited the recent ripoff of credit card numbers from major retailers...
"It just goes to show how vulnerable we all are as consumers. When we do most of our transactions on these ATM cards, it's very easy for people to get in and manipulate those and for people to get ripped off. We need to make sure we have a strong champion in the Attorney General's office
Richards has also advocated for better pay for state prosecutors and opposed bringing back for-profit bounty hunters in Wisconsin.
