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October 9th , 2024 Len’s Political Note #676 DAGA has a list
2024 General Election
DAGA is the Democratic Attorney Generals Association. Their list is short. As important as Attorneys General are in each state, most elections are not in presidential years. DAGA reports only eleven decisions to be made about attorneys general this year. I will reduce that number to nine.
I make recommendations to you about candidates to support; candidates who stand for election. I urge you to give money to these candidates, particularly the ones for whom those donations could make a difference between winning an election and losing it. This piece is more inclusive – but I warn you about when contests are close and when they are not. Two of the positions on DAGA’s list simply do not fit. They are not contests that we can weigh in at all.
The Two States that do not fit
New Hampshire
The attorney general in New Hampshire is not an elected position. The governor nominates the attorney general. The Governor’s Council (a distinctively New England body) ratifies the nomination in the way that the US Senate would ratify the president’s nominee for Attorney General.
There will be a new Attorney General in New Hampshire. That is because there will be a new governor of New Hampshire. I have urged you (Len’s Political Note #674) to support Joyce Craig, Mayor of Manchester, who is the Democratic nominee for governor. Married to an attorney, experienced as a manager, Joyce Craig got into politics to improve her children’s schools and to fight the opioid epidemic. A practical Democrat, she is running for the seat that Republican Chris Sununu is retiring from. Joyce Craig’s opponent is Kelly Ayotte. Ayotte was a one term US Senator who is still an opponent of abortion and still a supporter of Donald Trump, though the times and New Hampshire have changed some. Joyce Craig’s nominee for Attorney General. if she wins, will reflect her values as a practical Democrat.
Maine
Maine’s attorney general is elected – but not by the people. The state legislature, the Senate and House meeting jointly, elects the Attorney General. In 2018, the legislature chose one of its own, Aaron Frey, a state Rep from Orono, from among five candidates. Aaron Frey, is a graduate of New Hampshire’s St. Anselm College and Rhode Island’s Roger Williams College’s law school. After his appointment, Aaron Frey joined other state attorneys general in suing the Trump administration.
Attorney General can be a politically potent position. Aaron Frey’s predecessor, Janet Mills, was elected and is still Maine’s governor. It is not clear, however, that the Maine legislature will reelect Aaron Frey after the 2024 elections. The legislature will probably remain Democratic, but Aaron Frey has acknowledged a romantic relationship with a direct subordinate, a deputy attorney general. The scandal may lead the legislature to elect a new Attorney General.
Two States with important Attorney General Contests
North Carolina
Jeff Jackson has a name with a ring to it. But he is not a southern populist. He is not a descendant of Andrew Jackson. And his first name is Jeffrey, not Jefferson. His dad was a doctor who got his MD from Wayne State in Detroit. Jeff Jackson went to Emory in Atlanta and got his JD from the University of North Carolina. Those are his southern roots. He has other credentials. In the army reserves, he was a JAG official in Kandahar. He is still in the reserves, a major now. He has been in private practice and has been a prosecutor. He became a state senator when a vacancy was to be filled by the 49 Democratic precinct members. He got 25 of the 49 votes and began his political career.
As a state Senator, he worked to expand pre-kindergarten programs, to redefine rape so that a woman could withdraw consent even if intercourse had begun, and to repeal a law that allowed the state to override local antidiscrimination ordinances. When he ran for Congress, Jeff Jackson proposed to eliminate childhood poverty through an increased minimum wage, Medicaid expansion, and educational support. He proposed protecting democracy by making retiring legislators wait before becoming lobbyists and preventing sitting legislators from trading individual stocks. He got himself elected to a seat that was subsequently gerrymandered so severely it was clear that no Democrat could win.
Jeff Jackson chose to run for Attorney General, a position formerly held by the outgoing Democratic Governor Roy Cooper and currently held by the Democratic candidate for governor Josh Stein. Jeff Jackson is facing another former Congressman, Dan Bishop, who made his name as the creator of the so-called bathroom bill which limited the use of gendered public facilities to people of the gender to which they were born. In response to the public and corporate backlash to that proposal, Bishop compared LGBTQ activists to the Taliban.
Help Jeff Jackson win this race. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #597
Pennsylvania
Eugene DePasquale is the former Pennsylvania auditor general. His roots are in western Pennsylvania where his family kept their pizza restaurant going despite two serious hardships. A younger brother with muscular dystrophy required continuous care, which he received from brother Eugene and other family members. His father, who had returned from Vietnam with a drug problem, was arrested and convicted and jailed for 10 ½ years for selling drugs. He was one of the few for whom jail time was a boon. When he returned home, he was drug free and capable of making housing for himself and a living by buying derelict houses, remodeling them, and selling them.
Eugene DePasquale had moved on. A football scholarship allowed him to get a BA, some work experience, a Master’s Degree, and a law degree. That led to a job as Director of the Department of Economic Development for the City of York in central Pennsylvania and a subsequent job as Deputy Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection. After three years and disillusion with the Department, he ran for office and was elected as a state rep and subsequently as State Auditor.
Eugene DePasquale was good at the work. Under his auspices, state audits found Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection was not protecting the state’s water supply from the dangers that arose from oil and gas exploitation. An audit of police departments found that rape kits were left untested for over a year. After the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, an audit found that gun sellers were not monitored for sales to those in mental distress. Term limited, he looked elsewhere. He ran unsuccessfully against Scott Perry in PA 10 and is now running for Attorney General. Although there was an interim, the winner of this race is replacing now governor Josh Shapiro,
Eugene DePasquale is not great at raising money. Perhaps because he was the only candidate with western Pennsylvania connections in a crowded field, he won the Democratic primary despite raising so little money that he was barely worth a mention in an article about pre-primary candidate fund raising. Offsetting that limitation, he is distinctively frugal. He listed his office expenses as a state Senator and noted that he purchased his office furniture at a yard sale. He is opposed by prosecutor Dave Sunday. Sunday says he is against any legalization of marijuana and promises to enforce the death penalty. Help Eugene DePasquale, a rare politician who has succeeded while raising only modest amounts of money. DONATE. See Len’s Political Noe #642
Three Democrats who should win
Washington
Nick Brown has credentials. BA Morehouse, JD Harvard, JAG attorney, US Attorney for the Western District of Washington, and, was voted off the island in the second season of Survivor. If he is elected in this largely Democratic state, he will replace Bob Ferguson who will probably be elected governor. Nick Brown’s opponent is Pete Serrano, mayor of Pasco, who leads a group that has sued to eliminate the state of Washington’s limitations on gun ownership. If you want to help Nick Brown, you can. DONATE
Oregon
Dan Rayfield is a State Rep and House Speaker, a civil rights attorney who gained statewide recognition for representing several people who had been falsely arrested by a local police officer. His opponent, Will Lathrop, also describes himself as a civil rights attorney. He worked in Africa intending to protect women from violence, to rescue children from slavery, to prevent human trafficking victims and build up criminal justice systems. He and his organization were zealous enough so that they sometimes generated headlines for helping police take children from their families. Most people in Oregon will be confident that Dan Rayfield is the safer and more appropriate candidate. Join them and DONATE if you want.
Vermont
If Vermont had an aristocracy, Charity Clark would be a member. She is a descendent of the state’s first governor. She was born and brought up in Vermont. She graduated from Manchester’s Burr and Biurton Seminary before going on to the University of Vermont. After graduation she worked as a policy analyst in the Howard Dean administration after which she went to Boston College Law school. She joined a Burlington firm, worked in New York City, and, in 2014, was tapped to be an assistant Attorney General back home in Vermont. She remained until 2022 when she resigned in anticipation of running to replace the incumbent who planned not to run for reelection. She was elected in 2022. In 2024 her opponent is H. Brooke Paige who is also running for State Auditor and Secretary of State.
States where Democrats are unlikely to win
Utah
Rudy Bautista is the Democratic nominee. A graduate of the Merchant Marine Academy with a career in the Merchant Marine, he is a mature graduate of the Brigham Young University law school, a libertarian who nevertheless got the Democratic nomination, and has become an experienced defense attorney. He received praise from the American Tort Reform Association for signing a pledge of transparency in the campaign The Republican favorite is a party heavyweight, A former lobbyist for Facebook, he received criticism for serving as an outside prosecutor of that same organization. He has also been a senior staffer to Utah Senators. If you want to be a nuisance to Utah Republicans, you can DONATE to Rudy Bautista.
West Virginia
Democrat Teresa Toriseva is a phenomenon. The combination of an academic scholarship and working helped her make her way through Wheeling Jesuit University and subsequently, with distinctive awards, through West Virginia University Law School. She created her own firm, has been in practice for thirty years, opposing big banks and corporations, representing fire fighters, police officers, and other first responders. No matter how extraordinary Terese Toriseva may be, it seems unlikely that she could defeat state auditor JB McCuskey in this overwhelmingly Republican state. This is not to say it could not happen. Joe Manchin was elected as a Democrat in West Virginia. So did the current governor, Jim Justice, before he switched to the Republican party,
States where Democrats have a slim, but not impossible chance to win.
Montana
Ben Alke went to Notre Dame and to Northwestern for law school. Then he came home to Montana. Even his clerkship was in Montana, with the state Supreme Court. He joined the firm now known as Crist, Krogh, Alke, and Nord and built a thriving practice focused on commercial litigation. He announced his candidacy at the Brothers Tapworks, a bar owned by the former Democratic Attorney General and Governor, Steve Bullock and Bullock’s brother.
He said: “The office of attorney general is a serious job. You’re the chief legal officer of the state of Montana. You’re the chief law enforcement officer. “The criteria that you think about when you’re making decisions has nothing to do with politics. It is not about your political party. It’s about seeking the truth.”
He added the current attorney general Knudson “does not understand how to do his job.” Then he made a list of Knudson’s transgressions including Knudson’s communications to and about state supreme court justices which are being investigated for violating 41 counts of Montana’s Rules of Professional Conduct.
Ben Alke can make a case for himself as a prospective apolitical attorney general, quite different from the bull in a China shop incumbent. Austin Knudson promises to keep Montanans safe, defend the constitution, protect the 2nd amendment, safeguard private property rights, and reduce excessive government spending. In as Republican a state as Montana is, he may not need to say any more than that to win reelection. You can help Ben Alke take advantage of his reckless opponent. DONATE.
Missouri
Elad Gross is an idealistic young man; a very smart idealistic young man. He went to Duke, received a grant which he turned into a non-profit that helps kids achieve their potential. He came home, got his law degree at St. Louis’s Washington University, and kept the non-profit going. In 2018, he sued to make public the names of donors to the disgraced governor Eric Greitens. Greitens won argueing that only the Attorney General could seek that information. In 2020, Elad Gross ran for Attorney General, but lost. He promised then and promises now to create a Civil Rights division, to cooperate in a statewide effort to reduce violent crime, and to prosecute corruption. The appointed incumbent, Attorney General Andrew Bailey, is a right wing culture warrior. He did his best to prevent the constitutional amendment to protect abortion from being considered by the voting public. He acquiesced in the execution of a prisoner who many believe was not guilty, an execution that the district attorney, the victim’s family, and jurors asked be delayed. He has refused to release prisoners whose convictions have been overturned, has sought to restrict gender-affirming care, and has come to ex President Trump’s defense on each legal issue he has faced. Elad Gross would be a welcome replacement. Help him. DONATE. See Len’s Political note #619
Indiana
Destiny Wells has been in the army reserves for 21 years. She is a Lt. Colonel in military intelligence after a military career that began in the JAG office and brought her to a specialty in military intelligence. In civilian life, she has been in private practice, served as Associate Corporate Counsel for the city of Indianapolis, and served on the Indiana Attorney General’s staff. In 2022, she lost a race for Secretary of State by 14 points. Indiana is not an easy place for a Democrat to run for office. The incumbent, Todd Rokita, has made it easier. Not so much for speeding with a fake ID as a teenager or asking African Americans almost two decades ago when he was secretary of state after noting that 90% of then voted democratic: Who is the master and who is the slave? Mostly he has made it easier for a Democrat to run based on how he and his office dealt with the abortion received by a 10 year old from Ohio.
Rokita told Fox news that the Indiana gynecologist was an “abortion activist acting as a doctor with a history of failing to report” about abortions she performed. Her attorney’s response was to describe the statement as “false and defamatory” and likely to “mislead consumers and patients.” Rokita asked the Medical Licensing Board to sanction the gynecologists. The Court to which the gynecologist turned found Rokita had violated Indiana law by discussing a confidential investigation and had caused irreparable harm to the gynecologist. She did not bring the case far enough to receive damages because Rokita was going to ask, successfully, for copies of the medical records of her patients.
Rokita then sued the gynecologist’s employers for not protecting the 10 year old’s privacy. That court reprimanded Rokita for committing attorney misconduct and fined him $250. Rokita insists he was not fined.
Destiny Wells has an opportunity here to campaign against an extreme and unreasonable anti-abortion attorney general. Could she win? Help us all find out. DONATE. Help Destiny Wells win this election
WE HAVE A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO WIN
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
As we look toward November, we see the odds of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz winning the election have improved. You can make those odds even better. Help with a donation. Every donation, large or small, makes a difference. Larger donations mean more money for the campaign. But many in the media count the number of small donations as a measure of enthusiasm for the candidate. Make a small donation if you cannot afford a large one. DONATE TO KAMALA HARRIS AND TIM WALZ. VOLUNTEER