Wisconsin
Wisconsin AG blasts conservative state Supreme Court candidate for being too slow to test rape kits
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul waded into the state’s Supreme Court race Monday, renewing an old feud with conservative candidate Brad Schimel over delays in testing sexual assault evidence kits almost a decade ago.
Kaul, a Democrat, ousted Schimel, then a Republican, from the attorney general post in the 2018 elections. Kaul hammered Schimel relentlessly during the campaign for taking more than two years to test about 4,000 kits sitting unanalyzed on police department and hospital shelves.
Schimel’s opponent in the Supreme Court race, Susan Crawford, has attacked Schimel over his handling of the kits in ads. Kaul brought up the delays again Monday during an afternoon news conference organized by the state Democratic Party. He accused Schimel of not paying close attention to the testing project and prematurely declaring he had completed the work when his administration left hundreds of kits for Kaul’s administration to test.
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When asked what the testing delays have to do with being a state Supreme Court justice, Kaul said justices must be straightforward and Schimel isn’t candid about what went on with the kits.
Schimel defended himself in the days before the 2018 election by saying the state Justice Department needed time to inventory the kits and struggled to find private labs to test them because labs were overwhelmed with untested kits from other states. Jacob Fisher, Schimel’s Supreme Court campaign spokesperson, said in a statement Monday that Schimel voluntarily took the initiative to lead a first-of-its-kind effort to test the kits. He accused Kaul of playing politics and rewriting history.
Schimel and Crawford are vying for an open seat on the Supreme Court in an April 1 election. The race is officially nonpartisan, but Schimel was a Republican attorney general and has GOP backing while Democrats are rallying behind Crawford.
The race has enormous implications in swing state Wisconsin, with majority control of the state’s highest court on the line as it is expected to face issues that will affect abortion and reproductive rights, the strength of public sector unions, voting rules and congressional district boundaries.
Crawford and her allies are increasingly trying to nationalize the contest against Schimel by focusing on Elon Musk, a top adviser to President Donald Trump. America PAC, a group created by Musk, has spent $3.2 million on digital ads, mailers and canvassing to support Schimel in the Supreme Court race. Another Musk-funded group, Building America’s Future, has spent more than $2 million on TV ads attacking Crawford.
In 2014, the state Justice Department learned of some 6,800 sexual assault evidence kits that had not been tested. They went unanalyzed for various reasons. Prosecutors may have decided cases were too weak to pursue or been forced to drop cases because victims wouldn’t cooperate, according to Schimel’s administration.
The problem wasn’t unique to Wisconsin. A USA Today Network investigation in 2015 found at least 70,000 untested kits nationwide, leading to calls from victim advocacy groups to analyze them all in hopes of getting DNA hits that would identify serial offenders.
Schimel took over as attorney general in 2015. He secured a $4 million federal grant in September of that year to start testing Wisconsin’s kits, but the work didn’t begin until January 2017. He announced in September 2018, two months before the election, that his administration had finished testing 4,150 kits and declared the project finished. He chose not to test the rest because victims in those cases wouldn’t consent to analysis or prosecutors had already won a conviction in those cases, according to Schimel’s administration at the time.
Kaul announced in November 2019 that his administration finished the work after discovering Schimel had left about 300 kits untested.
With the action-packed Wisconsin high school boys basketball regular season completed and March Madness beginning, it’s time to take a look at some of the outstanding players and cast your vote for the best.
We began by looking at the most prolific individual scoring threats, talented 3-point shooters,strong rebounders, and top free-throw shooters so now it’s time to take a look at the high-caliber guards from throughout the state.
There are hundreds of high-caliber boys basketball players in Wisconsin, and these lists are not intended to be comprehensive.
Voting remains open until March 9 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
(Players are listed in alphabetical order and all nominees are leaders from the 2025-26 season as compiled by Bound.com, and WIAA; the poll is below the list of athletes)
Castillo is averaging 25.4 points per game with 5.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals for Greendale (18-6 overall record).
Collien is averaging 15 points per game with 4.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists for Oakfield (21-3 overall record).
Edwards is averaging 14.1 points per game with 7.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists for D.C. Everest (21-3 overall record).
Gray Jr. was averaging 24.3 points per game with 6.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals prior for West Allis Central (22-2 overall record).
Hereford is averaging 36.4 points per game with 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 4.1 steals for Beloit Memorial (22-2 overall record).
Johnson is averaging 27.3 points per game with 8.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 3.6 steals for Milwaukee Juneau (22-1 overall record).
Jones is averaging 23.3 points per game with 5.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.6 steals for Germantown (15-9 overall record).
Kern is averaging 16 points per game with 6.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists for New Berlin West (21-3 overall record).
Kilgore is averaging 14.6 points per game with 7.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 3.0 steals for Kewaunee (24-0 overall record).
Kohnen is averaging 16.3 points per game with 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.3 steals for Slinger (20-4 overall record).
Knueppel is averaging 17.4 points per game with 7.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.4 steals for Wisconsin Lutheran (24-0 overall record).
Loose is averaging 18.2 points per game with 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.3 steals for Port Washington (23-1 overall).
Manchester is averaging 35.8 points per game for Mount Horeb (19-5 overall record).
Platz is averaging 19.5 points per game with 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists, and 1.4 steals for Brookfield East (19-5 overall record).
Prochnow is averaging 21.3 points per game with 11.1 assists, 4.8 assists, and 3.2 steals for Reedsville (21-3 overall record).
Resch is averaging 21.3 points per game with 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals for Arrowhead (18-6 overall record).
Schultz is averaging 27.4 points per game with 6.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.0 steals for Plymouth (17-7 overall record).
Schwalbach is averaging 15 points per game with 4.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds, and 1.7 steals for Kaukauna (21-3 overall).
Sweeney is averaging 15.5 points per game for Appleton North (20-4 overall record).
Vandenberg is averaging 13 points per game with 2.3 assists and 2.0 rebounds for Freedom (23-1 overall).
About Our Player Poll Voting
High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.
— Jeff Hagenau | jeffreyhagenau@gmail.com
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