Chuck Slemp (00:00):

Welcome to 31 States in 31 Minutes, a special edition podcast from the State AG Pulse. I’m Chuck Slemp, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s State Attorneys General practice, and I’m thrilled you’re joining us today for what has been one of the most consequential attorney general election cycles in recent memory. We’re recording this Wednesday afternoon, less than a day after voters across the country went to the polls and made decisions that’ll shape state legal and regulatory enforcement for years to come. Attorneys general are increasingly at the center of some of the biggest legal policy and political battles in America, from consumer protection and antitrust, to data privacy, healthcare, environmental regulation, financial services, artificial intelligence, multi-state litigation. I could go on and on.

(00:46):

This year, voters decided attorneys general races in 31 states, including a significant number of open seat contests, that ensured a new generation of AG leadership would emerge across our country. As we record this podcast, some races remain extraordinarily close. Recounts may be possible in a handful of jurisdictions maybe, and in several jurisdictions, AGs or candidates, are just now conceding. And so a final margin has yet to be fully settled. But one thing is clear, the 2026 AG elections delivered surprises, upsets, nail biters, and major changes to the AG landscape. To help break down last night’s results, I am joined by two of my outstanding colleagues.

(01:29):

First, Lindsay Ruotolo is a member of the Cozen O’Connor State AG practice and former first assistant AG of New Jersey, where she served at the second-highest ranking official in the State’s Department of Law and Public Safety. Also joining us is Chris Allen. Chris is a longtime member of Cozen’s AG practice, who advises clients nationwide on state AG investigations, enforcement actions, and public policy issues. Both Lindsay and Chris are highly respected voices in the state AG community, bringing years of experience to the work, and I’m so proud to call them colleagues. So Lindsay, welcome.

Lyndsay Ruotolo (02:04):

Thanks so much, Chuck. I’m so happy to be here this morning after a long night watching results last night.

Chuck Slemp (02:09):

And Chris, great to have you too.

Christopher Allen (02:10):

Thanks so much, Chuck. I appreciate the invitation to be here. I have been watching these AG elections now for almost 20 years, and I can say without qualification, last night was the most eventful one I’ve ever seen. So breaking it down is going to be a lot of fun.

Chuck Slemp (02:23):

It should be a fun conversation here, and we could spend way more than 30 minutes, but let’s see if we can do it. The challenge is accepted. Before we dive in, a quick word about Cozen’s nationally recognized state AG practice.

Lyndsay Ruotolo (02:36):

Sure. I’m happy to jump in there. Chuck, our team includes two former attorneys general as co-chairs of our practice group, former senior AG officials, and then experienced practitioners who’ve helped for years, helped clients navigate attorney general investigations, litigation, multi-state matters, consumer protection issues, regulatory enforcement actions, and strategic engagement with AG offices across this country. We track developments in every state and work with our clients facing some of the most significant state enforcement and policy challenges in America.

Christopher Allen (03:08):

That’s right, Lindsay. So if your company or organization is dealing with attorney general scrutiny or multi-state investigations, or if you really just want to understand emerging enforcement trends, explain policy positions on cutting edge issues, or simply want a better understanding of where AG priorities are headed, our team is here to help.

Chuck Slemp (03:27):

Well, it was a big night last night, guys, and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts to see what key takeaways there might be for our listeners and clients. But first, we are joined by two very special guests. I’m thrilled to have both Adam Piper, the Executive Director of the Republican Attorneys General Association, and Sean Rankin, the President of the Democratic Attorneys General Association. We’re so fortunate to be joined by our special guest who has had a front row seat to these races from the Republican side. Adam Piper, the Executive Director of the Republican Attorneys General Association joins us. Adam, thanks so much for being here.

Adam Piper (04:04):

Chuck, thanks for having me on and all Cozen and does for its clients.

Chuck Slemp (04:07):

Thank you. We are thrilled to be with you. Let’s just jump right into it. Big night last night, new Republican Attorneys General elected in key states across the country, bunch of new freshmen rising stars. Who are you most proud of and who are you looking forward to seeing?

Adam Piper (04:23):

Yeah, we have a great freshman class, four new Republican AGs who are game ready on day one. Catherine Robertson in Alabama is no stranger, has been the Chief Counsel, to Steve Marshall, has run one of the most effective pound for pound per capita Republican AG offices in the country. Lance Russell in South Dakota is a former Senate Judiciary Chair. He’s ready to roll day one. In Oklahoma, we have a new rockstar in John Eccles, former House floor leader, member of YPO, has built a business. He gets it. And then we have David Stumbo, former coworker of mine in the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office. David has been a elected DA like you were Chuck. David’s also been the head of the State Grand Jury in South Carolina, also ready on game one to follow in the footsteps of Alan Wilson, the Republican AG and my former boss who will now be the Republican Governor in South Carolina.

Chuck Slemp (05:13):

Sounds like a great group. Look forward to working with them. What are you most proud of after last night’s election results in your field of candidates this year?

Adam Piper (05:22):

Well, we’re waking up to the aftermath of the political equivalency of a category five hurricane. And for those not in a hurricane state, this was the largest political seat change we have seen in a generation. It wasn’t 2018, it wasn’t 2006, it was like Watergate. What we are most proud of is RAGA raised a record amount of money. Chuck, what I’m most proud of is our fundraising, our efficiency, and our effectiveness. RAGA broke fundraising records in 2026. We didn’t just break them, we shattered them. We also put our resources in the most effective manner possibly, direct to candidates, direct to candidate equivalencies, buying television at lowest unit cost. And when we had to go through an IE, we negotiated with vendors for the lowest cost and the lowest rates of any political committee in town on either side of the aisle.

(06:17):

So when you look at it in terms of being good stewards, it’s a lot like the parable of the talents. We put our resources directly into Republican AG campaigns, directly into ads, directly into voter contact. It made a difference. We lost a number of seats, but we also outperformed the top of the ticket by record margins across the country.

Chuck Slemp (06:36):

Well, thank you for that, Adam. That perspective is interesting. And let me ask you if you can, can you compare 2018 and 2006 to this year’s cycle?

Adam Piper (06:45):

Initial returns, Chuck, showed the generic ballot this year was D plus 13. That is several points worse than either 2006 or 2018. My first post-college paid political work was in ’06. It was bad. I’d warned our staff internally. We’ve got a lot of great young 22, 23 year olds, for just how bad DC was after 2006. This was not 2006 bad. It wasn’t 2018 bad. It was 1974 bad. We have not seen an election night like this in a Republican Party since Richard Nixon and since 1974, but it’s also an opportunity to build, to build back, to lay rebar, to lay a stronger foundation and to save and defend America for future generations.

Chuck Slemp (07:27):

Now with that being said, what should businesses and stakeholders expect when looking ahead and forward to 2027, especially in light of this next generation of Republican Attorneys General elected last night?

Adam Piper (07:40):

Look, I think you’re going to have a number of stakeholders and businesses who are having some deep regrets this morning. They put a ton of money into US Senate races and congressional races. They didn’t invest down ballot. A few more dollars in a state like Iowa or Kansas or Ohio probably would’ve made a difference. The billions spent on US Senate races hurt us down ballot. What they can expect is the most radical class of Democrat AGs ever. You have people like Eli Savit in Michigan who we tried to warn companies about, who wrote his University of Michigan Law Review article on corporate money being bad and fossil fuels being evil. You have a group of Democrat AGs who compare themselves to Zohran Mamdani, and they’re just like El-Sayed in the Senate. I mean, it’s going to be a tough road ahead for a number of companies.

(08:26):

I think engaging with firms like Cozen O’Connor and engaging with groups like RAGA will never be more important. The importance of Republican AGs have never been higher. You have one of our alumni, Eric Schmidt in the Senate, who now has enough time in the Senate to write a book about all of his wins as a Republican Attorney General. And people have to keep in mind that a state attorney general is the only statewide elected official in America who can alter the course of federal policy without asking for permission from a single person or having to work with another elected official. Same as the President of the United States of America.

Chuck Slemp (09:01):

AGs are never more important as you just pointed out. Thank you so much for joining us, Adam. We cannot thank you enough for your time, especially the day after election day when this is being recorded. I know you probably didn’t get much sleep last night, so thank you so much for being on the program. Any final thoughts?

Adam Piper (09:19):

Sure. I think this is one of those tough ones. When you lose by a really big margin, in some ways it’s easier to sleep because you’re not fretting any single play. We left on the field. Vince Lombardi in that speech about what it takes to be number one, talked about political organizations, talked about grit. And when you look at our team, whether it’s me, whether it’s Klarke Kilgore, whether it’s Tyler Dunn, we left it on the field. When you look at our Republican AGs, we left it out on the field. It shows we outperformed the top of the tickets in nearly every single state we spent money in. We ran the most efficient, effective committee possible. We put record amounts of money directly into campaigns like Brenna Bird’s so they could spend more efficiently just like we did last year in Virginia.

(10:02):

And sometime it doesn’t show up on the scoreboard. It shows up in the box score. We outperformed across the board, and I think my final thoughts are my heart breaks for some tremendous public servants who ran great races, did everything the right way. There are a number of tremendous public officials and public servants who aren’t able to serve, not because of their campaigns, not because voters didn’t believe in them, but because of the tops of their ticket. You have Brenna Bird in Iowa outperformed the governor’s race by 10 points. Keith Faber in Ohio outperformed Vivek by more than seven points. Kris Kobach in Kansas outperformed Roger Marshall by a handful of points. Mayes Middleton in Texas outperformed Ken Paxton by more than five. I think if you look at Texas, this wasn’t just a Ken to Paxton problem in Texas. I think John Cornyn would’ve lost as well. And it’s a wake-up call that we have to do everything possible to win back Texas.

(10:57):

We have to do everything possible to win back Iowa and Kansas and Ohio and Georgia. It’s a rough night. We outperformed where we were supposed to be. If it was 2018 or 2006, Brenna Bird would’ve won a reelection. Kris Kobach would’ve won reelection. Keith Faber would’ve won. Mayes Middleton would’ve won in a 2018 environment. But guess what? It was worse than 2018 and we have to pick ourselves up. We got knocked down as a party and we have to make sure the Republican Party moving forward is focused on values, is focused on priorities, is focused on policies that will make sure our communities remain the safest places possible to live, work, and raise a family on the local, state, and federal levels.

Chuck Slemp (11:42):

Thank you so much for joining us.

Adam Piper (11:44):

Thanks, Chuck.

Chuck Slemp (11:45):

All right. Appreciate you. Now let’s turn to the Democratic perspective. Joining us is Sean Rankin, the President of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, who also had a front row seat to last night’s action. Sean, thank you so much for joining us.

Sean Rankin (11:58):

Chuck, it’s great to be here. Thank you all for having me on. It’s real pleasure.

Chuck Slemp (12:02):

Last night was a big night for you and your team. So first question out the gate, what stands out the most for you?

Sean Rankin (12:09):

Well, the numbers. This was a big night. We expected to win a number of seats. We really felt very confident, as you know, about Kansas, Iowa, and Georgia. We had felt confident about Kansas a year out, and we could see where that was going to lean, even in a close race. But as we move through the cycle, what we continue to see were two things. One; that fundraising kept picking up, which allowed us to go deeper into states and also expand into new states. And the second piece was the map moved. So we continued to see this changing trajectory across a set of states. So we went from a really solid number of states, five, where we were going to defend AGs and hold onto states, to a set of seven to eight. And eventually we got to 12 states that we were looking at, coordinating with, pushing money to, really getting our arms around it.

(13:00):

And last night, we defended all of our AGs that we needed to protect. We kept Michigan and Nevada with us. Again, open seats that we wanted to protect. And then we actually picked up five states, so far. And why I say so far is even though we’ve got Kansas, Iowa, Georgia, Texas, and Ohio, the one that’s still remaining is going to be Alaska. And what happens with Alaska? The AG in Alaska is appointed. We think that the Democrat will be certified as the winner. There’s a little bit of a dust up around Alaska and their voting process. We’re just going to wait it out. But the reality is that that would take us to 30, and it’s been a long time since we’ve been there.

(13:45):

In 2010, there were 32 Democratic AGs. The Republican State Leadership Committee, actually a very effective group, pushed back hard in that midterm. When I came in 2016, we had 21. We got up to 27 in 2019 because we had Bashir and Hood, and that helped us in the South. Well, last night we put more states in play than we thought, quite frankly, would be possible. And I got to tell you, you go play in control for what you can. That record fundraising helped a lot. Again, the map moving helped a lot, but we knew we could control things. We could control our destiny in Kansas, Iowa, Georgia. Ohio came on late. Texas came on late. Florida, which was just a little bit short, came on. So we really had a very big map and when we actually see the results across the country, it was more than I was expecting. I was looking at Texas and saying, “Man, do we get over by a point, maybe two?” Not 12. It was just not where I thought we could be, but I’ll take it.

Chuck Slemp (14:50):

Well, new Democratic AGs were elected last night in so many states, and this is like asking you to pick your favorite children here. So who are the bright, shining, rising stars out of the freshman class that our clients need to be thinking about, looking out for, getting to know?

Sean Rankin (15:06):

Well, we’ve got a big new class coming in. So we had five D2D transitions and then we have five pickups. So this is really very much akin to what we saw in 2018 when we had eight D2D transitions plus four pickups, and it changed the chemistry of the room. So I’m going to actually just talk about this on the whole.

(15:26):

First of all, we’ve got new blood in the room and a lot of new blood in the room. So I think there’s going to be some measure of chemistry change where the room wants to go, how it wants to engage. I think the existing leadership and the maturity of the AGs are going to lead this new class and help them to get settled pretty quickly, because we still have two years under Trump, and I don’t want to miss this, that even with the new offices, there is two more years of work to do, and it’s not as if we think that there’s going to be a winding down of this impact litigation.

(15:57):

We also are just seeing, we’ll call it a measure of hope from our side, that when you actually have a Democratic House and Senate, that you’re going to see the Congress moving in the right direction. But you do have a Republican president, if we still consider Trump a Republican. And so we’re going to see a lot of vetoes from the White House on the legislation that they’re going to pass. So invariably, it’s going to come back to Democratic Attorneys General and Republican Attorneys General to work through a defacto national standard on issues that don’t get settled at the federal level. So I really do expect that when it comes to rising costs and just truly around utilities, other things that matter for constituents, whether you’re in a red state or a blue state, that you’re going to see the AGs playing significant roles on anything that’s consumer facing as well as some of these more bread and butter issues, which really do affect people’s pocketbooks.

Chuck Slemp (16:53):

I see what you did there. You didn’t pick one of your favorite children here. Smart man, smart man. Okay, so you started touching on it here, and in the time we’ve got left, I want to ask you what should businesses and stakeholders expect when they’re looking ahead to 2027?

Sean Rankin (17:09):

2027 is sort of the speed bump to 2028.

Chuck Slemp (17:12):

True.

Sean Rankin (17:13):

And I’m from Kentucky, so I’m going to go ahead and say that because from an electoral perspective, we’ve got Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana in ’27, and those are uphill states for us, so we are going to go compete. I think what we’ve seen in Mississippi is an indication of where these states can and may go. It’s just going to require investment, but we’re also looking at this as North Carolina and Pennsylvania. So we have Jeff Jackson to protect in 2028. We’ve got to make sure that we’re competitive. We lost Pennsylvania the last go round. We’re not going to be satisfied until we get it back. And we’re also going to deal with the presidential contest, which is going to have a bearing on what we do and how we do it.

(17:54):

So from an electoral standpoint, it’s going to be a busy two years. It’s not going to have the scope or the scale of what 2026 did with so many states up, but it’s going to be a pretty dynamic political map because of the overlays. And I do think that we’re going to see some other breakthroughs. Again, I look at Mississippi and I was pretty warm on Mississippi in 2019 up until we got to impeachment for Trump and then everything sort of fell off the cliff. But I though we had a good strategy that we were executing to make Mississippi competitive. I think we just saw Mississippi is not competitive. So it gives us this other dynamic. And again, it’s also about protecting incumbents. So Jeff Jackson is now top of the list.

(18:36):

You spend two years getting ready for North Carolina, and then you’ve got Pennsylvania again, and we’re coming for it. It’s a state we want to get back. It’s an important state. So we’re going to be aggressive in what we look at for both of these next two years, build on what we’ve got, and make sure that, again, these new AGs get settled into the room, build working relationships quickly with their peers, and then have the resources they need to go take care of their constituents.

Chuck Slemp (19:02):

Sean, we’ve got about 30 seconds. I’m curious here as we finish up, what are your final thoughts? Any policy initiatives, any enforcement priorities? What do we need to start looking for as you wrap up here? And thanks again.

Sean Rankin (19:16):

Yeah, it’s my pleasure. Bread and butter issues. I think the American people told us yesterday that they’re hurting and it’s our responsibility to make sure that we’re meeting them where they are, that we’re helping them to find a little bit of ease in the pressures they’re under financially. And I think you’re going to see Democratic AGs responding to their constituents in a way which is both meaningful and again, shows that they’re going to go help and that they’re in this for the right reasons, that they’re in this to take care of their people, and they’re going to do that.

Chuck Slemp (19:48):

Thank you, Sean and Adam, for your perspectives. We appreciate the work you do and the chance to speak with you after such a busy night.

(19:56):

Now, Lindsay and Chris, let’s walk through this map here. Rather than going state by state in alphabetical order, let’s look at major themes from election night and trends that emerged and yes, maybe even statistics. Get your whiteboard out, Chris.

Christopher Allen (20:09):

All right, so let’s do a little Steve Kornacki real quick. We had 31 AG elections last night, plus elections in Maine where the legislature elects the state AG and in Alaska and Wyoming where the governor appoints it. Coming out of those races, there will be 15 new faces. That is 15. Like I said earlier, I’ve been doing this almost 20 years, and that is by far the most turnover we have ever had in an AG election going all the way back to 2007 and before. The composition shift between Republicans and Democrats, again, this is the biggest shift that we have had since 2010. Again, this is if current trends hold, and some of these races might have recounts and calls, but if current trends hold, counting appointments, you will have 30 Democrats to 21 Republicans. And of course that’s 51 because DC is also elected.

(21:00):

That has not happened since the flip in the other direction from Democrats to Republicans in 2010. And finally, I would be remiss without mentioning that we had four AGs go on to different or higher offices. Alan Wilson in South Carolina, Phil Weiser in Colorado, and Aaron Ford in Nevada who were elected governor, and then Marty Jackley, who is taking over South Dakota’s sole seat in the House. So even just by the numbers, this was an incredibly eventful and impressive night, Chuck and Lindsay.

Chuck Slemp (21:32):

Lots of new faces, but there also were some incumbents who were successful in their efforts for reelection. Let’s start there. Incumbents who defended themselves.

Lyndsay Ruotolo (21:41):

I’m happy to jump in there. California will stay under the leadership of AG Bonta. Illinois will stay with AG Raoul. Charity Clark is going to remain the AG in Vermont. Kathy Jennings is going to remain the AG in Delaware. AG Schwalb is going to remain the AG in DC. Tim Griffin will stay at the lead of the Arkansas AG’s office. AG Labrador will remain the AG in Idaho. And then in Florida where AG James Uthmeier was finishing out a term for prior AG, he was just elected to hold the office for a full term.

Christopher Allen (22:14):

That’s right, Lindsay. And you also had James Uthmeier, obviously a narrow win down there, but still a win for Republicans in Florida. You also had another narrow win in Nebraska. You had wins also by incumbents in Arizona, in Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Connecticut. That’s a grand total of 18 incumbents that we will see for the next four years.

Chuck Slemp (22:40):

18 incumbents, but then also some incumbent upsets this year. Every election year has some surprises. Well, what are the notable developments here, guys?

Christopher Allen (22:49):

That’s right. We had two narrow upsets in Iowa and Kansas. Of course, those are states that also saw general blue wave type activity in their other offices. So as of this recording, Brenna Bird, the Republican has conceded to Nate Willems, the Democrat in Iowa, and Kris Kobach is being led, that’s the incumbent Republican, by challenger Democrat Chris Mann right now by 12,000 votes with 98% counted. That’s Kansas. And like I said, we had some other close elections throughout the night. Minnesota, Florida, Nebraska were also close, but as of right now, only two upsets.

Chuck Slemp (23:31):

What about the open seats? Now, the biggest national story here is the number of open seats that were already going to be brand new AGs. And so what are our numbers there again, going back to your whiteboard?

Christopher Allen (23:45):

So we knew that we were going to have at least 12 new AGs accounting the appointees this time. Sure enough, we had five red to blue flips in this race, counting the Iowa and Kansas results if those hold. Three of those were in the open seat races. That was Texas, where Nathan Johnson will be the new Democrat Attorney General of Texas, Georgia, where Tanya Miller will be the new Democrat Attorney General of Georgia, and Ohio, where just recently Keith Faber has conceded, and so John Kulewicz will be the new Democrat AG of Ohio. In addition to that, we have new Attorneys General in Oklahoma, Alabama, Rhode Island, Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina, and South Dakota.

Chuck Slemp (24:33):

The entire map is new, it looks like. Well, okay. Then finally, you mentioned it. I know one of our guests already has mentioned it. We also have the metric that not every AG is elected.

Lyndsay Ruotolo (24:46):

Coming from an office with an appointed AG, it’s a totally different process and Maine will be appointed by the legislature, so that will be sort of the end of AG Frey’s service to the state of Maine as Attorney General. It’s been wonderful working with him these past couple years, and we’ll also see changes from a governor appointee in both Wyoming and Alaska. Alaska we’ll have to come back to to see what party that might wind up being, but those results are not yet in.

Chuck Slemp (25:15):

Awesome. And then that’s Aaron Frey is term limited, so I guess we will have to wait and see. When is that, Lindsay? Is that next January?

Lyndsay Ruotolo (25:24):

Yeah, I think that maybe we’ll find out before then, but I believe his term is up in the beginning of January.

Christopher Allen (25:29):

Yeah, I think usually the main legislature will meet in special session in December and elect the new AG, and I believe the inauguration is in January.

Chuck Slemp (25:37):

All right, we’ve gone through the map. We’ve brought out your whiteboard, Chris. We’ve seen that there are changes all across the country. I think it’s probably important for us to talk about what’s the key takeaways for our listeners, for our clients, the enforcement trends and the policy priorities that we should expect in 2027 and beyond.

Lyndsay Ruotolo (25:56):

One thing, even before we get to enforcement trends, what’s so critical about the AG space is the relationships we have with the offices and the people running them, and it’s important for our clients who we have all these new faces to build those relationships, maintain them over the next several years. And the good news is both DAGA and RAGA did an excellent job throughout the election season of bringing folks who were running for these offices to the table early. And so many of our clients and all of us have had great opportunity to get to know them over the last year, and that of course is going to grow. But the other side is even with party changes in leadership, career staff in these offices in a lot of instances remain, and so those relationships will be really critical as we start to chart a course through navigating changes in enforcement trends.

Christopher Allen (26:46):

Yeah, that’s right, Lindsay. And just obviously the front offices will change. They’ll bring in their own chiefs of staff, their own chiefs deputies, but heads of antitrust, heads of consumer protection, heads of data privacy, those units in the offices generally are career staff. And while there may be some turnover, they will definitely still be in place. And I’m glad you brought up RAGA and DAGA because again, those are just such fantastic forums. I know that all three of us were at a lot of those meetings. We’ve met all of these candidates, now AGs elect, but in the future, in these upcoming meetings, we’ll also get a chance to meet some of those people that are going to fill those front office roles. And I’m really looking forward to getting to know them as I got to know both of you when you were in the front offices.

Chuck Slemp (27:25):

That’s right.

Lyndsay Ruotolo (27:26):

I’m excited for them. It’s a great job.

Christopher Allen (27:28):

And so Chuck, you also mentioned what enforcement trends should we look at and what other takeaways just besides the importance of getting to know the AGs. And I think for me, I did talk at the beginning about the composition between Democrats and Republicans, and obviously AGs have become their foremost defenders and voices of their states when it comes to representing their interests in federal court and challenging or upholding federal regulations or executive orders. But I do think it’s important that everybody understand that the state AG world is one of the last ones where bipartisanship is still something real and that happens on a regular basis. We may have 30 Democrats and 21 Republicans come January, but cooperation across the aisle on consumer protection, on antitrust, on AI, on data privacy, those things are going to remain. I know, Lindsay, that you and Chuck worked in a Republican office in a Democrat office, and you witnessed that firsthand.

Lyndsay Ruotolo (28:22):

Yeah, it’s what I love most about the AG community is that I think it is the purest part of what government service is really about. It’s not about party, it’s about patriotism, and I think we’re going to continue to see that with this new group of leaders coming into the community. They’re going to be so welcomed by their colleagues across the party lines. That doesn’t seem to matter in this world.

(28:45):

Now, the reality of that too is we did sort of see nationally on the map a reaction to some of the priorities of the federal administration. So we could see a shift in enforcement priorities even among the Republican-led offices in the next two years, that really might diverge a little bit from federal administration priorities. And certainly with the 30 Dem’s who are now leading offices across this country, we might see some interesting reactions to things being done at the federal level.

Chuck Slemp (29:19):

As we wrap up, yesterday’s elections reinforced something that I think our esteemed panel here and our special guests were just talking about, attorneys general matter. Whether it’s consumer protection, enforcement privacy, regulation, antitrust, scrutiny, whatever it may be, the role of the attorney general continues to occupy an increasingly important role in shaping policy.

(29:41):

Thank you to our special guests, Adam Piper and Sean Rankin for their perspectives. I want to thank my colleagues, Lindsay Ruotolo and Chris Allen for helping us make sense of what was an extraordinary election night. And most importantly, thank you all for listening. If your organization is trying to understand what these election results might mean for your business, your industry or your engagement for state AGs, our team at Cozen O’Connor stands ready to help. Our State AG practice works with clients across the country on investigations, enforcement actions, and so much more.

(30:12):

For more information, visit cozen.com or subscribe to our State AG report. For everybody at Cozen O’Connor, I’m Chuck Slemp. Thanks for listening to our podcast. We’ll see you next time.