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Attorneys General are important
……Anything left? Spent it all helping Democratic Congressional candidates, Senate candidates, Gubernatorial candidates? Think about a donation to an Attorney General candidate. Or three. Attorneys General represent their state in law suits, advise state officials, occasionally (especially when they are in different parties) sue state officials, and sometimes sue the federal government. The candidates below are in competitive races that have been identified by 538. I am categorizing the races on my best guesses from reading what 538 says about them and news reports. Don’t assume that my categories are accurate.
……Lean Democratic……Colorado…Democrat Phil Weiser was Dean of the University of Colorado Law School and served in the Obama administration. The son and grandson of holocaust survivors, he feels particularly connected to mentors who were figures in the Civil Rights movement. He decided to run for Attorney General in order to be a check on President Trump. He has outraised his opponent — Republican George Brauchler, the District Attorney who prosecuted the Aurora shooter. One newspaper that endorsed Brauchler praised his non-partisan character. In an interview before the Kavanaugh controversy, attempting to be even handed, he praised Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch and criticized Trump’s demeanor. Some non-partisan. Find Phil Weiser at https://philforcolorado.com/ and make a donation.
Phil Weiser won 52 –45.
……Michigan…Races for Attorney General often attract opposites. Democrat Dana Nessel’s lead has been cut in half in recent weeks, but she is still up by 7 points. Now married to a woman, a former prosecutor and defense lawyer, her defense of a lesbian couple helped end Michigan’s ban on same sex marriage. She promises to focus on consumer protection, clean water and health care. She would protect women’s health rights regardless of a new US Supreme Court decision on abortion. She describes her opponent Republican House Speaker Tom Leonard as a tool of special interests. Leonard served in the special crimes division in Genesee County and defended the Michigan Department of Corrections for Republican former Attorney General Mike Cox. These are two quite different candidates. Find Dana Nessel at https://www.dana2018.com/ and make a donation.
Dana Nessel won 49 – 47.
……Toss up…Ohio…Democrat Steve Dettlebach is a former federal prosecutor. For twenty years, he prosecuted cases in California, Texas, and Ohio. The last seven of those years, he was the US Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Debating his opponent, State Auditor Dave Yost, he accused the Republican of having been bamboozled by an online charter school, now closed. Yost should have investigated the school for over billing the state, for billing the state for students they did not teach. Political, Dettlebach accused. Acquiescing to potential donors, Dettlebach accused. Yost works at being apolitical. He promised to withdraw from the lawsuit filed by Republican Attorneys General claiming the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. Unconvincing, says Dettlebach. Yost’s unrelenting effort to audit Planned Parenthood was, he argued, a waste of taxpayer’s money. Planned Parenthood was a political target. Find Steve Dettlebach at https://steveforohio.com/ and make a donation. It will not take much to move him into the Lean Democrat category. Dettlebach already has a financial edge.
Steven Dettlebach lost 52 – 48.
Florida…Democratic State Rep Sean Shaw followed his father into the law. His father, angry at the discrimination he faced as an African American soldier in Korea, became a lawyer and, eventually, an important figure in the law in Tampa. The same age, same generation as gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum — Sean Shaw has promised to investigate Donald Trump’s business practices in Florida. He has promised a broad approach to public policy issues from guns to medical marijuana. The Republican candidate for Attorney General, Ashley Moody is from Shaw’s generation, but from a different world. At home with her children now, she has been a prosecutor and a circuit judge. Shaw would drop Florida’s participation in the law suit against the Affordable Care Act, she would stay in. Shaw would look at whether the legislature is meeting constitutional requirements to fund education, Moody calls that overreach. Shaw would not defend a ban on abortions if the legislature were to pass one. Moody says you can’t pick and choose what Florida law to defend. They each draw on their party’s base. They are each articulate and knowledgeable in debate. They represent two quite different versions of Florida, the country, and the world. Find Sean Shaw at https://seanshaw.com/ and make a donation.
Sean Shaw lost 52 – 46.
……Wisconsin…Josh Kaul’s mother is Peg Lautenschlager, Wisconsin’s last Democratic Attorney General. His father is Indian-American. His work was as a prosecutor for the US Attorney’s office in Baltimore. He returned to Wisconsin three or four years ago to practice law, much too recently according to his critics. His critics complain of plea deals with drug dealers in Baltimore. Not persuasive. The deals that were approved by his supervisors, were consistent with the facts of the cases and were consistent with ordinary practice. Kaul is 37, a young man to be running for Attorney General. He has a lot to say about incumbent Republican Brad Schimel. Schimel responded too slowly to the backlog of rape kits. Schimel marginalized career attorneys by managing cases too closely. Most important, Schimel wasted taxpayer money on political cases. Attacking the Affordable Care Act. Attacking ExxonMobil on climate change, but also attacking the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. Declining to challenge the FCC on net neutrality, Schimel insists he gets involved only when a law is unconstitutional or hurts Wisconsin. There is no evidence, he says, that the loss of net neutrality hurts Wisconsin. Providing legal oversight of Wisconsin’s campaign finance laws a pass does not hurt Wisconsin. Violating ethics laws by accepting too much money from a PAC does not hurt Wisconsin. An error, says Schimel. Meeting prospective donors at Mar a Largo in Florida doesn’t hurt Wisconsin either. Find Josh Kaul at https://www.joshkaul.org/ and make a donation.
Josh Kaul won 49 – 49 (17,745 votes)
Nevada…Upward Bound is still around. Founded in 1964, part of Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, Aaron Ford, Democrat for Nevada Attorney General is one of the program’s triumphs. Raised in Dallas in a low income, working class family, he was arrested for public drunkenness, for stealing tires, for failing to appear in court for a speeding ticket. An African American kid, he was fortunate not to have been convicted. He was going nowhere. Upward Bound helped him, helped him go to Texas A & M. He was the first in his family to go to college. He went on to George Washington University for a Master’s Degree, to The Ohio State University for an EdD and a law degree. Ford followed his wife to Nevada, followed her in clerkships as well. They prospered and then didn’t. Cutting corners, they didn’t pay their taxes in full. At least not right away. He ran for office and was good at that. Majority Leader of the State Senate, he is Nevada’s highest ranking Democrat. As Attorney General, he says he would fight scams, insurance companies that deny care, criminals and drug dealers. He would also address disproportionate incarceration of African Americans. His opponent Wes Duncan has been the current attorney general’s chief deputy. Also a law graduate from Ohio State. He focused on crime victims and drug issues in the AG’s office. Opponents fear he would extend the current AG’s legacy. Duncan hopes to do just that. His opponents complain Duncan followed a deeply conservative agenda. Lawsuits to end DACA and the Affordable Care Act were the most visible examples of that agenda. Find Aaron Ford athttps://www.fordfornevada.com/ and make a donation. …
Aaron Ford won 47 – 47 (4,655 votes)
…Minnesota…If there is a candidate for high office anywhere who embodies what Republican hate and fear it is six term Congressman Keith Ellison. Child of the Civil Rights movement. A Catholic convert to Islam. A favorite of the Democratic left. Loser in his effort to head the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
……None of those characteristics seemed to hurt him in the polls. What did hurt was his former girl friend and her son’s accusation of domestic abuse. They refer to a video of him pulling her off a bed in an argument. Ellison denies it. The video has not been produced. But voters have been affected by the story.
……Ellison helps define what the Democrat left means.
……Some of his views are conventional Democratic positions. He is pro-choice on abortion. He supports same sex marriage, rights for gays and Lesbians. He supports gun safety, background checks. He supported the Iran Nuclear Treaty. He would support efforts to normalize relations with Iran.
……Some of his views are less conventional. He supports a national minimum income (explored by people on both the left and the right). He would require one third of the membership of Corporate Boards be employees. ……Israel is something else. Many in the Jewish community suspect any politician who is a Muslim. Is he anti-Israel? He is not anti-Israel. He would explore routes to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. So would J Street.
……With a different opponent, Republican Doug Wardlow would be the controversial one. He worked for the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian non-profit that supported the defense of Masterpiece Cakeshop. They were able to substitute a vision of religious freedom for customers’ freedom in the marketplace. A more mundane controversy. He had to return a campaign contribution from a closed Charter School that may require investigation. Wardlow argues that the Attorney General’s office ought to be apolitical. He sees Ellison as political. But not himself. Find Keith Ellison at https://keithellison.org/ and give some thought to providing him support.
Keith Ellison won 49 – 45.
Lean Republican…Arizona…Democrat January Contreras,was a local and county prosecutor before founding a legal aid organization to protect women, children, and families. She is behind in the polls. Her website focuses on the lawsuits that the Incumbent Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich has undertaken. She warns that Brnovich wants to declare the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. He wants to protect dark money donors. He would defend ExxonMobils’s efforts to avoid investigation. Brnovich says he interests are more ordinary — indictments for sexual exploiters of children, recovery for vulnerable adults who are scammed, and lawsuits against individual bad acting companies. Contreras does not believe that. Nor do I. Find January Contreras at https://www.januaryforaz.com/ and make a donation.
January Contreras lost 53 – 47.
……Texas…Texas? Is not just Beto O’Rourke. The more recent the poll, the closer the race for Texas Attorney General.……The Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has a problem. Not with President Trump. The Texas Tribune says “Paxton has emerged as one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies among GOP attorneys general.” Paxton was the first Republican Attorney General to defend Trump’s travel ban. Trump’s support does not hurt a candidate in Texas.……The Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has a legal problem. Three years ago he was indicted for securities fraud. He was charged with recruiting investors for an energy firm without disclosing he was earning commissions from those investments. The SEC made the same charge. Paxton won on the SEC civil charge. Three years later, the criminal case has not had a trial. Nothing will happen until the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals decides whether the prosecutors hired for the case can get paid. Meanwhile a gag order prevents Paxton from explaining his case in public. An ongoing criminal case does hurt a candidate in Texas, especially a candidate for Attorney General, especially when it is the Attorney General himself who is the accused.
……Democratic Challenger Justin Nelson has a chance. Columbia Law School Graduate. Former clerk for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Adjunct faculty at the University of Texas Law School. Successful lawyer in a big Texas firm, he has never before run for public office before. He is not a politician. Founder of One Nation One Vote — a non-profit dedicated to ending gerrymandering. His major campaign effort is a plan to improve the state’s ethical climate. He can and would do some of that from the AG office, without a need for legislation. Find out more about Justin Nelson at his website https://www.nelsonfortexas.com/ and make a donation.
Justin Nelson lost 51 – 47.
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