Josh Kaul

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Josh Kaul
File:Josh Kaul-13 - 44610449305 (3x4b).jpg
Kaul in 2018
45th Attorney General of Wisconsin
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 7, 2019
GovernorTony Evers
Preceded byBrad Schimel
Personal details
BornJoshua Lautenschlager Kaul
1980 or 1981 (age 44–45)
PartyDemocratic
SpouseLindsey Kaul
Children2
RelativesPeg Lautenschlager (mother)
EducationYale University (BA)
Stanford University (JD)
WebsiteCampaign website

Joshua Lautenschlager Kaul (born 1980 or 1981)[1] is an American lawyer, Democratic politician, and the current attorney general of Wisconsin, serving in that role since January 2019. Before his election as attorney general, he served as a federal prosecutor in Baltimore, Maryland.

His mother, Peg Lautenschlager, was the 42nd attorney general of Wisconsin, a United States Attorney, and the 1st chair of the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.

Early life and education

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Kaul is the son of Peg Lautenschlager, an attorney and politician, and Kashmiri Pandit immigrant Raj Kaul. His stepfather, Bill Rippl, worked as a police officer. He was raised in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac.[2] Kaul graduated from Yale University as a double major in history and economics. He earned his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School.[2] While a student at Stanford, he served as president of the Stanford Law Review.

Career

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Kaul clerked for Michael Boudin in the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals.[3] From 2007 through 2010, he worked for the law firm Jenner & Block, and worked as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office in Baltimore through 2014.[4]

In 2014, Kaul moved back to Wisconsin and joined the law firm Perkins Coie's Madison office.[5]

Attorney General of Wisconsin

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In the 2018 elections, Kaul ran for Attorney General of Wisconsin defeating incumbent Republican Brad Schimel. Kaul won by a small margin of just over 17,000 votes, but Schimel decided not to seek a recount and conceded defeat on November 19. Kaul became the state's first Democratic Attorney General since his mother's term in office.[6][7]

File:Tony Evers, Tammy Baldwin, Josh Kaul IMG 2501 (1).jpg
Kaul (right) with Governor Tony Evers and U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin at a 2022 campaign event

Kaul was reelected in 2022, defeating Republican Eric Toney.[8]

On June 4, 2024, Kaul announced he was bringing felony forgery charges against three operatives of Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign who were involved in the plot to produce fraudulent electoral college votes from Wisconsin. Those charged included Kenneth Chesebro, a Wisconsin native and the alleged architect of the national fraudulent elector plot, Jim Troupis, a former Wisconsin circuit court judge who represented Trump in 2020 litigation, and Mike Roman, a Trump campaign aide and former White House staffer.[9]

After governor Tony Evers announced in 2025 that he would not run for a third term as governor, Kaul contemplated a run to succeed him as governor. Instead, however, Kaul announced in October 2025 that he would not run for governor, and would instead seek a third term as attorney general of Wisconsin in the 2026 election.[10]

Personal life

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Kaul met his wife, Lindsey, at Yale. They have two sons.[2][11]

Electoral history

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Wisconsin Attorney General Election, 2018[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Josh Kaul 1,305,902 49.41% +4.02pp
Republican Brad Schimel (incumbent) 1,288,712 48.76% −2.78pp
Constitution Terry Larson 47,038 1.78%
Write-in 1,199 0.05%
Plurality 17,190 0.65%
Total votes 2,642,851 100.0% +12.45%
Democratic gain from Republican
Wisconsin Attorney General Election, 2022
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Josh Kaul (incumbent) 1,333,369 50.64% +1.23pp
Republican Eric Toney 1,298,369 49.31% +0.55pp
Write-in 1,539 0.06% +0.01pp
Plurality 35,000 1.33%
Total votes 2,633,277 100.0% +0.36%
Democratic hold

References

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  7. ^ Republican Attorney General Schimel Concedes to Josh Kaul. US News. November 19, 2018
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