IN HER OWN WORDS- KATHLEEN FALK CANDIDATE FOR AG, MY CHOICE FOR AG

Kathleen Falk: As AG, I'll fight for values we share and get results

By Kathleen Falk

I am pleased to have the chance to talk directly to Capital Times readers about the race for attorney general. You have supported me throughout the years. Together, we who share the progressive values on which this newspaper was founded have accomplished great things. I am inspired by your support.

Now I ask you to join me in my campaign for attorney general. There's been a lot of speculation in the news media about this race. Most recently, on July 11, the Cap Times wrote in a news article: "Falk ... is running for AG because she and some Democratic leaders believe (Peg) Lautenschlager is vulnerable due to a 2004 drunken driving conviction."

Let me share with you why I am running for attorney general: There is no office more important when it comes to protecting our environment, our rights, our families, our communities and our future. That's what I've done my whole life. That's what I've done as county executive. And that's what I want to do as your attorney general. My entire career has been founded on a simple idea: Results matter.

That's why I became an attorney 30 years ago starting out at Wisconsin's Environmental Decade taking on the utilities and the Public Service Commission, and winning in the Supreme Court for consumers and the environment.


I was honored to serve as your public intervenor, taking on the powerful special interests on behalf of ordinary citizens. We won a lot so much that Tommy Thompson abolished the office.
As your county executive for the last nine years, it has been a privilege to fight on behalf of Dane County's diverse constituencies, making progress on the issues that matter most to you: fighting sprawl, improving our justice system and strengthening our communities.

When I first took office here in Dane County I saw a broken justice system, one that recycles nonviolent offenders. So, working with other leaders, we began unique programs here in Dane County that hold people accountable and provide treatment, so they don't commit the same crimes again. These programs are smarter on crime, they are smarter on human lives, and they work.

I want to fight for these programs statewide so citizens and families across Wisconsin have hope for a better, safer place to live. During my first 100 days as your attorney general, here's what else I'll do:

• Initiate an environmental strike force to identify the worst environmental crimes and bring the violators to justice.
• Reprioritize resources to fix the backlog at the crime lab.
• Toughen penalties for sex predators who use the Internet to prey on our children by working with our legislators.
• Convene a task force on gangs to provide local police, district attorneys and educators a list of best practices to help them stop gangs and keep children from joining in the first place.

The Republican candidates for attorney general represent the far right wing of the Bush-Cheney party, and would turn back the clock on every issue we care about.
These extremists are against a woman's right to choose. They support the ban on civil unions. And they want to make it possible for people to carry hidden guns to kids' soccer games, to the mall or to churches.

The stakes could not be higher in November. Democratic leaders around the state and here at home Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Rep. Mark Pocan, Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts, Sen. Mark Miller, Sen. Jon Erpenbach have endorsed me because they know how important the attorney general's office is, and they believe I am the best candidate.

Seventy of the state's leading environmentalists, statewide progressive labor organizations and women leaders across the state have endorsed my campaign, including the statewide firefighters union; the 40,000-member AFSCME union; SEIU, the state's largest home health care union; Women's Choice, Wisconsin's version of Emily's List; and more.

For more than 30 years I've fought for the ideas we care about and the values we share. I want to be Wisconsin's attorney general to continue to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, to put the law to work on behalf of ordinary citizens, to fight the good fight, and, as I've done throughout my career, to get results on the issues that matter most.

Kathleen Falk will face incumbent Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager in the Democratic primary Sept. 12.Published: July 25, 2006