Toney concedes, Kaul holds on for minuscule win in attorney general race

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul narrowly eked out a win in his reelection campaign against Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney. With more than 95% of votes cast across the state, Kaul’s lead was less than 5,000 votes — an exceedingly close election even for a state known for nail biters. 

Around 1:20 a.m., Toney conceded the race, saying he wanted the state to have “certainty” about the results. 

Closing his campaign watch party around 10:45 p.m., Kaul said his view of the race hadn’t changed since the weeks before, that it was going to be really close, but he was “upbeat.” 

Before the race was conceded, Kaul told the gathered crowd of about 80 supporters that his reelection meant the state’s Department of Justice would continue to improve law enforcement response to sexual assaults, make kids more safe at school and hold environmental polluters accountable for harming the state’s water. 

He also said he’d continue to work to reinstate the right to an abortion in Wisconsin. Abortion rights played a significant role in the attorney general’s race. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision this summer resulted in the return of Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban, Kaul filed a lawsuit to have the ban declared unenforceable. 

Toney ran on a platform that the DOJ should follow the law by prosecuting doctors for providing an abortion.