Owens Announces Run for WI Attorney General; Will Challenge Toney in GOP Primary

Another challenger has entered the race for the Republican nomination for Wisconsin’s Attorney General.

Ryan Owens, a law professor at UW-Madison announced his candidacy for the seat on Monday, saying in a statement that the Attorney General “must side with parents, must treat our law enforcement officers fairly, and must stand up to government overreach that hurts our communities and small businesses.”

Owens previously taught at Harvard University, practiced law and worked for Governor Tommy Thompson.

The announcement sets up a potential GOP primary between Owens and Eric Toney, Fond du Lac County’s District Attorney, who announced his bid for Attorney General earlier this month. Both candidates are challenging the incumbent Josh Kaul, a Democrat, who was elected in 2018.

Toney’s campaign put out a statement regarding Owens’ entry into the attorney general race, saying “I welcome Professor Owens to the race and I look forward to letting the voters hear about our record – his in the classroom and mine in the courtroom. I’m the prosecutor in the county where the Republican Party was founded in Ripon. My roots run deep in the Republican Party, and law enforcement and the voters will have a clear choice in the primary.”

 The primary election would be in August of 2022.