Attorneys general have played a critical role in fighting organized retail crime in states. Fifteen states — AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, IL, MI, NM, OK, OR, PA, TX, UT and WA — have established an ORC Task Force within their attorneys general offices to investigate and prosecute suspects involved in organized retail crimes.
These task forces provide increased funding to support coordination among law enforcement, prosecutors and businesses to better enforce laws and work together to stop multi-jurisdictional retail crime operations.
As it stands now, Republicans currently hold AG seats in 27 states, while Democrats hold seats in 23 states. This November, the 10 AG seats up for election are evenly split between both the Democratic and Republican parties.
The two states most likely to see a change in party control of the AG office are North Carolina and Pennsylvania, both of which are currently held by Democrats. In North Carolina, Congressman Jeff Jackson (D) faces fellow Congressman Dan Bishop (R) in what is expected to be one of the most expensive AG races of the year. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale (R) faces Republican challenger David Sunday. Both states are seen as pivotal battleground states so voter turnout for the presidential election will likely impact the result of these races.
Six of the AG seats are open races, while incumbents are running for reelection in the remaining four seats. There is a partisan lean here too, as three of the four incumbents running are Republicans and four of the six open seats are currently held by Democrats. In addition to the rising profile of state AGs, the AG position is a popular office for aspiring governors. Nine current sitting governors once served as an attorney general. Regardless of who wins in November, expect attorneys general to play a critical role in future policy discussions, one way or another.
