One of the things Wisconsin voters will decide Nov. 6 is who'll be the state's attorney general.
The person in that position heads the Wisconsin Department of Justice and represents the state in most legal matters. The attorney general also enforces environmental regulations and decides whether to join national lawsuits against federal laws.
Incumbent Republican Brad Schimel is running for a second four-year term. The former Waukesha County district attorney is being challenged by Democratic candidate Josh Kaul, who's a former federal prosecutor.
READ: Josh Kaul Would Target Drug Traffickers & Focus On School Safety
Here are some highlights of Schimel's conversation with WUWM.
Tell us about your accomplishments in your first term that would make voters decide to pick you for a second term?
"I started Wisconsin's drug take-back program in 2015 after I was in office," Schimel said. "And together, we've collected as Wisconsinites over 400,000 pounds of unused medications from people's homes. That's 19 semi-trailers full of medications that are safely destroyed that are not being diverted for abuse."
He also spoke about the elder abuse task force and human trafficking statewide coalition.
What are your main goals?
"With the opioid epidemic, our next phase in our Dose of Reality campaign will be to help employers understand and manage the risk of hiring someone in recovery or treatment, because they need jobs," he said. "They need to be back supporting their families. That's a good way to keep them back from falling into substance abuse again. And it's a good way to keep them out of our jails and prisons."
Schimel also says he wants to work to create legislation to hold offenders more accountable for elder abuse, work on school safety, address cyber-bullying and violence in schools
How will you accomplish those goals?
"I've led by innovating. By using my experience of 29 years as a prosecutor to find new ways to approach problems. But then, by collaborating. And that's how I led in the DA's office as well, creating the victim impact panel program in Wisconsin, creating the first full-service child advocacy center, dramatically expanding our drug treatment court programs," he said.
What do you make of your opponent?
"He doesn't have the experience to lead," Schimel said. "And when he talks, he talks in talking points. He's been in the race for 18 months, and he's never laid out any detailed plan as to how he would accomplish the things he talks about in his talking points."
