GOP group takes aim at Democratic state AGs

by Reid Wilson - 03/28/17 11:43 AM ET

Republican attorneys general voted earlier this month to spend big bucks targeting their Democratic counterparts in other states, abandoning a years-long gentlemen’s agreement between the two parties in which incumbents were left out of the crosshairs.

The group of Republican incumbents voted to allow their national campaign committee, the Republican Attorneys General Association, to target Democratic incumbents. The so-called “incumbency rule” had long allowed the national group to target only open seat races.

“The incumbency rule is no longer in place anymore,” a top Republican strategist with knowledge of the decision told The Hill.

Reuters first reported the decision, made during a conference call of Republican attorneys general.

{mosads}Republicans control 26 of the nation’s 51 attorney general positions. That number is set to grow to 27 next month, when the New Hampshire legislature is likely to confirm Gov. Chris Sununu’s (R) nominee to become the state’s top law enforcement official.

State attorneys general have taken on an outsize role in recent years as members of both parties sued the federal government over decisions they objected to. Republican attorneys general in states such as Texas, Oklahoma and West Virginia sued to block Obama-administration environmental and labor rules.

Democratic attorneys general from states such as Washington, California and New York have been at the party’s vanguard in fighting the Trump administration’s actions on immigration and refugee policy.

But Republicans are playing more defense than offense in the next several years. In 2018, Republicans will defend 18 attorney generalships, including in swing states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, Ohio and Florida.

This year, only one attorney general — Virginia’s Mark Herring, a Democrat — is on the ballot. Democrats will defend 13 incumbents next year, though most are in safely blue states. Republicans are likely to target Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller (D), who has held office for 34 of the past 38 years.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Attorneys General Association was not immediately available for comment. But Karl Racine, the Democratic attorney general for the District of Columbia and the co-chairman of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, told Reuters his group would likely follow suit and target Republican incumbents.

Both groups are able to raise unlimited sums of money from donors, which include corporations. Election laws that vary by state mean the committees can spend different amounts with varying levels of coordination with candidates, though both groups have begun raising much larger sums in recent years.

“The Republican attorneys general stand for the rule of law, and the organization is devoted to upholding the rule of law, and electing Republican attorneys general, and that applies to races across the country,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) told The Hill.

“We believe we’ll still continue to work together with our colleagues across the aisle as appropriate for matters that are critical to our states. But we do believe there’s a real difference between the Republican attorneys general and folks on the other side. And we’re hopeful that we can gain more colleagues in the next few years.”