State Attorney General races are a big deal on Last Week Tonight

According to Last Week Tonight, races for State Attorney General are more important than you think. Here’s why you should vote smart on November 6.

This week, on Last Week Tonight, we’re talking State Attorneys General and — no, please don’t run away. This is actually an important and, dare we say, interesting topic. And, in case you’ve somehow missed it, the 2018 midterm elections are coming up in little more than a week. Yes, this plays into the midterms, too.

The Attorney General seat of your state might be part of that election. It’s a far more important race than many of us might think. So, stick around. Maybe even invite some friends to the discussion. Just don’t tell them right away that this is what you’re going to talk about.

Why should we care about State AGs, anyway? First, most of them are elected officials. That means you may have seen ads for AG candidates ad nauseum, but that also means voters have the power to elect them. Furthermore, this typically makes it so that AGs and AG candidates are members of political parties, typically to obvious effect.

What do these officials do, anyway? State AGs serve as their state’s chief legal officer. That means they are essentially the highest ranking legal counsel within their state. They also assist prosecutors and can represent people within their own state.

Often, they work on politically neutral matters, but more and more AGs have become noticeably partisan. Take RAGA and DAGA, for instance. Those are the Republican Attorneys General Association and the Democratic Attorneys General Association, respectively. Their very existence, even when there are politically neutral AG associations, points to that politicization.

AGs have also started bringing lawsuits against the federal government, which became more frequent starting in the Obama years. Medicaid expansion, for example, was a particular cause for conservative AGs to sue the federal government.

Choosing sides

Texas State AG Ken Paxton is a prominent example of this increasingly partisan landscape. He’s told county clerks that they can refuse marriage licenses to LGBTQ couples and sued the government over transgender access to bathrooms. Far from remaining neutral, as many an idealistic law school professor has hoped, Paxton and others are very publicly picking sides.

Paxton has spent a large portion of his office under indictment for securities fraud. But that’s not all. According to a campaign attack ad (which include CCTV footage of the following incident), he stole a $1,000 pen from another visitor to a Texas courthouse. If true, that’s definitely bad. Also, how are you supposed to spend $1,000 on a pen?

Democratic AGs aren’t innocent, either. They have also brought plenty of federal lawsuits against the government after Trump made it to the White House. So, this isn’t a clear case of one side being bad while the other remains totally angelic.

Meanwhile, both RAGA and DAGA are more and more interested in raising money. For instance, RAGA has some lavish fundraisers where attendees can essentially buy access to attorneys general, or at least buy their leniency when it comes to corporate law.

For instance, Scott Pruitt used to serve as the Oklahoma AG, where he was cozy indeed with energy companies and even sued the Environmental Protection Agency — the agency he now leads for the federal government. Pruitt even used the same draft letters that oil company employees sent to him when suing or generally communicating with the federal government.

Time to do your homework

If you live in one of the states that has an AG race on the ballot, take a few minutes to do your research. Many voters reportedly leave the AG question blank, making your vote potentially even more important. Depending on your state, you and other voters could make a major difference.

So, if you need motivation, think of Wisconsin AG Brad Schimel, who spent $10,000 in taxpayer money to make personalized commemorative coins. Or Leslie Rutledge, the Arkansas AG running for re-election, who has some embarrassing karaoke videos on her record and also some racist emails under her belt.

Or, as John Oliver pointed out, the overall creep factor shown by Michigan AG Bill Schuette during a 1989 interview, in which he painfully made a move on a journalist.

Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of candidates and political positions for you to peruse. If so, check out vote411.org, which gives you political information tailored to your region and voting district.

Oliver argues that looking up information about your own Attorney General takes all of two minutes. He was so sure, in fact, that he was willing to turn the last 120 seconds of his show into something akin to torture. That is, he will happily play you the soundtrack to hell — a bagpipe and accordion duet, “two sounds that go together like pop tarts and fish”.

If that doesn’t do it, then he’ll add in a theremin and, finally, six children playing recorders to the best of their elementary-aged ability. The ear-piercing shrieks and wails should be enough to get most viewers to do the barest minimum of homework before filling out their ballots. Won’t you?