2022 Wisconsin Attorney General election

2022 Wisconsin Attorney General election

November 8, 2022

Nominee Josh Kaul Eric Toney Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,333,369 1,298,369 Percentage 50.64% 49.31%

County results Congressional district results State Senate district results State Assembly district results Precinct results Kaul:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Toney:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      50%      No data

Attorney General before election Josh Kaul Democratic Elected Attorney General Josh Kaul Democratic

The 2022 Wisconsin Attorney General election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the Attorney General of Wisconsin. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul won re-election to a second term. Party nominees were selected in a partisan primary on August 9, 2022.

Kaul won re-election by a margin of 1.33%.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Josh Kaul, incumbent attorney general^[1]

Endorsements

Josh Kaul

Organizations

• Fair Wisconsin^[2]
• Giffords^[3]
• Human Rights Campaign PAC^[4]
• NARAL Pro-Choice America^[5]

Labor unions

• American Federation of Teachers Local 212^[6]
• Teamsters Joint Council 39^[7]
• United Auto Workers^[8]
• Wisconsin AFL–CIO^[9]

Results

Democratic primary results^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Josh Kaul (incumbent)	461,024	100.0%
Total votes			461,024	100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Eric Toney, Fond du Lac County prosecutor^[11]

Eliminated in primary

• Adam Jarchow, former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly (2015–2019)^[12]
• Karen Mueller, attorney and candidate for Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district in 2014^[13]

Withdrew

• Ryan Owens, University of Wisconsin–Madison law professor^[14][15] (endorsed Jarchow)^[16]

Declined

• Jake Curtis, attorney and Wisconsin Air National Guard first lieutenant (endorsed Jarchow)^[17]

Endorsements

Adam Jarchow

U.S. Representatives

• Tom Tiffany, U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 7th congressional district^[18][19]

State legislators

• Dave Craig, former state senator^[20]
• Joe Handrick, former state assemblyman^[20]
• Treig Pronschinske, state assemblyman^[20]
• John Spiros, state assemblyman^[20]
• Tom Weatherston, former state assemblyman^[20]
• 29 other state legislators^{[18][21][20][19]}

Sheriffs

• 12 sheriffs^[22][21][20]

Police chiefs

• 15 police chiefs^[22][21]

Local officials

• Kirk Anderson, mayor of St. Croix Falls^[20]
• Joanne Laufenberg, Walworth County supervisor^[20]
• Jeff Vollenweider, mayor of Kewaunee^[20]
• Taylor Wishau, Racine County supervisor^[20]

Organizations

• Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin^[23]
• NRA Political Victory Fund^[24][25]
• Wisconsin Right to Life^[26] (co-endorsed with Toney)
• Wisconsin Young Republicans^[27]

Individuals

• Ted Nugent, singer^[28]

Ryan Owens (withdrawn)

State Supreme Court Justices

• Michael Gablemnan, former justice (2008–2018)^[29]
• Dan Kelly, former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice (2016–2020)^[29]
• David Prosser, former justice (1998–2016)^[29] (switched endorsement to Toney after Owens withdrew)
• Jon Wilcox, former justice (1992–2007)^[29]

Speakers of the Wisconsin Assembly

• Ben Brancel, former speaker of the assembly (1997–1999)^[29] (switched endorsement to Toney after Owens withdrew)
• John Gard, former speaker of the assembly (2003–2007)^[29] (switched endorsement to Toney after Owens withdrew)
• Michael Huebsch, former speaker of the assembly (2007–2009)^[29] (switched endorsement to Toney after Owens withdrew)

State legislators

• 21 state legislators^[30][31]

Sheriffs

• Eric Severson, Waukesha County sheriff^[32]

Individuals

• Paul Clement, former Solicitor General of the United States (2004–2008)^[29]
• Margaret Farrow, former Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin (2001–2003)^[29]

Eric Toney

U.S. Representatives

• Glenn Grothman, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin's 6th congressional district^[33]

State Supreme Court Justices

• David Prosser, former justice (1998–2016) (previously endorsed Owens)^[29]

State legislators

• 25 state legislators^[29][34][35]

District attorneys

• 36 district attorneys^{[36][37][38][39]}

Local officials

• Steve Abel, Fond du Lac County board chairman^[34]
• Allen Buechel, Fond du Lac County county executive^[29]
• Jonathan Delgrave, Racine County county executive^[35]
• John Doemel, Winnebago County county executive^[34]
• Sam Kaufman, Fond du Lac County county executive^[34]

Sheriffs

• 49 sheriffs^{[36][37][34][40]}

Police chiefs

• 19 police chiefs^{[37][29][41][42]}

Individuals

• Brad Courtney, former chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin^[43]

Organizations

• Milwaukee Police Association^[44]
• Racine Police Association^[44]
• Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police^[44]
• Wisconsin Right to Life^[26] (co-endorsed with Jarchow)

Declined to endorse

Organizations

• Republican Party of Wisconsin^[45]

Debate and virtual town hall

2022 Wisconsin Attorney General Republican primary debate and virtual town hall

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Republican	Republican
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Eric Toney	Adam Jarchow	Karen Mueller
1	Jul. 20, 2022	WISN (AM)	Dan O'Donnell	[46]	P	P	P
2	Aug. 3, 2022	Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce	Scott Manley	YouTube	P	P	A

Results

Results by county

  Toney

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   60–70%

  Jarchow

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   60–70%

  Mueller

•   30–40%
•   40–50%

Republican primary results^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Eric Toney	222,902	37.43%
	Republican	Adam Jarchow	220,045	36.95%
	Republican	Karen Mueller	152,581	25.62%
Total votes			595,528	100.0%

General election

Debates

2022 Wisconsin Attorney General debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Republican
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Josh Kaul	Eric Toney
1[47]	Oct. 27, 2022	State Bar of Wisconsin Wispolitics.com WISC-TV	Eric Franke	YouTube	P	P
2	Oct. 27, 2022	WISN-TV	Matt Smith	YouTube[a] YouTube[b] YouTube[c] YouTube[d] YouTube	P	P

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[48]	Tossup	November 3, 2022
Elections Daily[49]	Leans R (flip)	November 7, 2022

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[e]	Margin of error	Josh Kaul (D)	Eric Toney (R)	Undecided
The Trafalgar Group (R)[50]	November 2–4, 2022	1,095 (LV)	± 2.9%	47%	50%	3%

Results

Wisconsin Attorney General election, 2022^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Josh Kaul (incumbent)	1,333,369	50.64%	+1.23%
	Republican	Eric Toney	1,298,369	49.31%	+0.55%
	Write-in		1,539	0.06%	+0.01%
Plurality			35,000	1.33%	+0.68%
Total votes			2,633,277	100.0%	-0.36%
	Democratic hold

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Toney won 6 of 8 congressional districts.^[51]

District	Kaul	Toney	Representative
1st	49%	51%	Bryan Steil
2nd	72%	28%	Mark Pocan
3rd	49.5%	50.4%	Ron Kind (117th Congress)
			Derrick Van Orden (118th Congress)
4th	77%	23%	Gwen Moore
5th	38%	62%	Scott L. Fitzgerald
6th	42%	58%	Glenn Grothman
7th	41%	59%	Tom Tiffany
8th	43%	57%	Mike Gallagher

See also

• Wisconsin Attorney General

References

1. Houdek, Grace (July 11, 2021). "Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announces re-election bid". www.channel3000.com. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
2. "PAC - Fair Wisconsin". Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
3. "Giffords Endorses Five Gun Safety Champion Attorneys General". Giffords. May 13, 2022. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
4. "Kaul Campaign: Human Rights Campaign endorses Josh Kaul for reelection as Attorney General of Wisconsin". Wispolitics.com. May 24, 2022. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
5. "NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Reproductive Freedom Champions for Attorney General in Colorado, Michigan, and Wisconsin" (25 January 2022). NARAL Pro-Choice America. January 25, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
6. "Kaul campaign: American Federation of Teachers Local 212 endorses Attorney General Josh Kaul for reelection". Wispolitics.com. June 21, 2022. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
7. "Teamsters Joint Council 39 Endorses Josh Kaul for Wisconsin Attorney General". teamster.org. November 30, 2021. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
8. "Wisconsin - UAW Endorsements". United Auto Workers. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
9. "Wisconsin AFL-CIO: Endorses Josh Kaul for reelection to attorney general in 2022". Wispolitics.com. September 15, 2021. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
10. "2022 State and Federal Official Results". Wisconsin Elections Commission. May 18, 2022. Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
11. "Fond Du Lac County Prosecutor Eric Toney Announces Run For Attorney General". www.wpr.org. Wisconsin Public Radio. April 3, 2021. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
12. Beck, Molly (November 10, 2021). "Republican primary for Wisconsin attorney general heats up - again". www.jsonline.cm. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
13. "Fall 2022 General Election". Wisconsin Elections Commission. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
14. White, Laurel (April 19, 2021). "Republican Law Professor Ryan Owens Enters Wisconsin Attorney General Race". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
15. Vetterkind, Riley (October 5, 2021). "UW-Madison professor Ryan Owens ends GOP bid for attorney general". Wisconsin State Journal. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
16. "Ryan Owens: Why I support Adam Jarchow for attorney general". Wispolitics.com. August 3, 2022. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
17. "Curtis passes on AG bid". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. November 30, 2021. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
18. "Jarchow campaign: Announces over two dozen legislative endorsements". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. February 17, 2022. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
19. Robinson, Lucas (March 17, 2022). "Adam Jarchow gains momentum in attorney general race, says he raised over $200,000". Wisconsin State Journal. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
20. "Jarchow campaign: Announces endorsements from across Wisconsin". Wispolitics.com. June 29, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
21. "Jarchow campaign: Jarchow adds to growing list of endorsements across Wisconsin". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. April 28, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
22. "Jarchow campaign: Announces law enforcement endorsements". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. February 9, 2022. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
23. "AFP backs Wisconsin Attorney General candidate Adam Jarchow". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. June 10, 2022. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
24. "Wisconsin Grades & Endorsements". nrapvf.org. NRA-PVF. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
25. "Jarchow campaign: Announces National Rifle Association endorsement". Wispolitics.com. July 11, 2022. Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
26. "Endorsed Candidates - Wisconsin Right to Life". wrtl.org. Archived from the original on February 5, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
27. "Wisconsin Young Republicans: Announce election endorsements". May 11, 2022. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022.
28. "Jarchow Campaign: Rock legend and freedom fighter Ted Nugent endorses Adam Jarchow for Wisconsin AG". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. June 16, 2022. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
29. "Eric Toney: AG Candidate Endorsed By More Than 50 Sheriffs, DAs". www.wisconsinrightnow.com. July 9, 2021. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
30. "Owens campaign: Announces legislative endorsements". Wispolitics.com. June 17, 2021. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
31. "Owens Campaign: Announces endorsements from majority leader Jim Steineke and Senator Duey Stroebel". Wispolitics.com. September 22, 2021. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
32. "Sheriff Eric Seveson Writes Letter Supporting Ryan Owens For AG". www.wisconsinrightnow.com. June 29, 2021. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
33. "Toney campaign: Rep. Grothman endorses Eric Toney for Attorney General". Wispolitics.com. July 12, 2022. Archived from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
34. "Toney campaign: Nabs Fox Valley endorsements; Sheriff Delain – Toney puts "victims before criminals"". Wispolitics.com. August 8, 2022. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
35. "Toney campaign: Sen. Van Wanggaard, co. exec and clerk endorse Toney". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. March 31, 2022. Archived from the original on April 9, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
36. "Toney campaign: Announces kay endorsement from Shawano County Sherriff". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. November 30, 2021. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
37. "Toney campaign: Receives endorsements from Sheriff Podoll". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. February 17, 2022. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
38. "Toney campaign: Hits milestone of 100 law enforcement endorsements". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. May 19, 2022. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
39. "Toney Campaign: Announces new DA endorsements". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. June 16, 2022. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
40. "Toney campaign: Endorsement from La Crosse County Sheriff Wolf". Wispolitics.com. October 4, 2021. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
41. "Eric Toney: Endorsed by former president of Wisconsin Police Chief's Association". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. June 30, 2021. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
42. "Toney Campaign: Announces six new police chief endorsements". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. May 25, 2022. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
43. "Toney campaign: Former RPW chair, Walker advisor endorses candidate for AG". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. November 11, 2021. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
44. "Toney campaign: Receives endorsement from Racine Police Association". www.wispolitics.com. Wispolitics.com. December 8, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
45. Leischner, Mike (May 22, 2022). "No Endorsement From State Republicans in Governor's Race". www.wtaq.com. WTAQ. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
46. [1]
47. "Kaul, Toney clash in final AG debate ahead of election". Wispolitics.com. October 28, 2022. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
48. "Secretary of State and Attorney General: What to Watch for Next Week in Key Statewide Contests". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 3, 2022. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
49. Solomon, Zack (November 7, 2022). "Elections Daily Secretary of State Ratings". Elections Daily. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
50. The Trafalgar Group (R)
51. "Ward by Ward Report by Congressional District - Attorney General". Wisconsin Elections Commission. 2022. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Spreadsheet download

Notes

1. Part 1
2. Part 2
3. Part 3
4. Part 4
5. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

External links

Official campaign websites

• Josh Kaul (D) for Attorney General
• Eric Toney (R) for Attorney General