Eric Toney announced at the Brown County Courthouse this week that fifty-five of Wisconsin’s 72 sheriffs, more than 75 percent, have endorsed the Fond du Lac County district attorney for attorney general. The list is not a party-line rubber stamp. It includes Democrats, Republicans, and independents, from Kenosha to Douglas County and across the Northwoods.
The Republican nominee said the sheriffs “spent nearly eight years watching the Department of Justice stop being a partner.” Kaul promised faster forensic testing. The labs are slower today than they were when he took office, Toney said, even with more analysts and better technology, and even while testing less evidence. Campaign figures put DNA turnaround at 112 days in 2024, up from 50 days in 2018. Drug testing went from 43 days to 90. Toxicology went from 37 days to 82. The Legislative Audit Bureau has already found Wisconsin’s labs lag neighboring states, with many sexual assault kits blowing past legal deadlines.
Brown County Sheriff Todd Delain, a Republican, put the local case plainly. He has worked with Toney for years, and “he answers the phone.” Delain called it a victim issue, not a party issue, and said Toney will fix the crime labs and give law enforcement a real partner in Madison. Menominee County Sheriff Rebecca Smith, a Democrat, went further. “I’m a Democrat, and I’m endorsing Eric Toney,” she said. Smith cited 13 years of Toney sitting across the table from sheriffs as a prosecutor, and his record leading the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association for prosecutors and public defenders alike.
The Democratic sheriffs on the list also include Bayfield County’s Tony Williams and Douglas County’s Matthew Izzard. Independents include Burnett County’s Tracy Finch and Green County’s Cody Kanable. The Republican column runs through the big suburban offices: Waukesha’s Eric Severson, Racine’s Chris Schmaling, Kenosha’s David Zoerner, Washington’s Marty Schulteis, and Winnebago’s John Matz. Toney’s coalition also includes the Milwaukee Police Association and the Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police.
Toney is in his 14th year as Fond du Lac County’s district attorney. He was named Wisconsin’s District Attorney of the Year in 2024 and has prosecuted homicide, sexual assault, human trafficking, and drug cases. Kaul, a former federal prosecutor, has spent much of his second term joining multistate lawsuits against the Trump administration and ignoring crime victims in the state. Toney argues the core job got neglected while the politics got louder.
Fifty-five elected sheriffs do not move as a bloc because they align with the campaign or are asked nicely. They move when the evidence kits are late, the drug results are late, and Madison has spent eight years treating the crime lab as a press release instead of a deadline. Kaul can argue lawsuits. Toney is arguing to end the backlog.
