J.B. Van Hollen criticized opponent Kathleen Falk in their final debate yesterday evening as a politician lacking sufficient criminal justice experience to head the state Justice Department.

Falk blasted back, saying Van Hollen has inflated his resume to win election and supports an extremist agenda.

Van Hollen, a Republican, opened the debate at the Wisconsin State Bar headquarters in Madison by citing his experience as a district attorney and U.S. attorney.

He says Wisconsin wants an attorney general with law enforcement experience.

Falk countered that Van Hollen exagerated his participation in cases his offices have handled, suggesting that his assistants did most of the work.

She says her 14 years as an assistant state attorney general and 10 years as Dane County executive give her "longer, broader, stronger, tougher experience."

Van Hollen says no one knows how Falk would react when the Justice Department faces its first big criminal case under her watch.

Falk took Van hollen to task for saying he would eliminate the backlog of evidence waiting for DNA testing at the state's crime labs.

She called the statement "glib and unrealistic."

She also lamented the spending by third-party groups in the campaign, saying they have spent $2 million on ads against her.