MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Politician or prosecutor.

That's the choice Wisconsin voters will face when they go to the polls November 7 and choose either J.B. Van Hollen or Kathleen Falk as their next attorney general.

The winner gets the top spot in the state Department of Justice and will decide how to spend tens of millions of state dollars fighting crime, launching civil lawsuits and defending state agencies.

Van Hollen is a Republican and says his lifelong experience as a prosecutor makes him the clear favorite.

Falk is a Democrat who says voters should pick her because she handled environmental cases for the Justice Department in the 1980s and has 10 years of administrative experience as Dane County executive.

Van Hollen, of Waunakee, has complained the attorney general's office has lost its focus on criminals. He has promised to make the office Wisconsin's premier crime-fighting force -- which plays into his experience as a prosecutor.

Falk, of Madison, wants to turn her administrative background to her advantage by painting the office as a broader position that also handles polluters and protects consumers.

ATTORNEY GENERAL-BIO BOXES

Biographical information on the candidates for attorney general.

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ATTORNEY GENERAL

NAME -- J.B. Van Hollen

PARTY -- Republican

AGE -- 40

RESIDES -- Waunakee

EDUCATION -- Bachelor's degree, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., 1988; law degree, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1990.

CAREER -- Appointed U.S. attorney, Western District of Wisconsin 2002, resigned 2005; served on subcommittees of the Attorney General's Advisory Committee dealing with Native American Issues, Controlled Substances, and Firearms and Violent Crime; assistant U.S. attorney, 1991-1993; Ashland County district attorney, 1993-1999; Bayfield County district attorney, 1999-2002; volunteer firefighter, Iron River Fire Department; volunteer first responder, Iron River Ambulance Department.

PERSONAL -- Married, two children.

NAME -- Kathleen Falk

PARTY -- Democrat

AGE -- 55

RESIDES -- Madison

EDUCATION -- Bachelor's degree, Stanford, 1973; law degree, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1976.

CAREER -- Elected Dane County executive, 1997, re-elected 2001, 2005; co-director and legal counsel, Wisconsin Environmental Decade, 1977-1983; assistant attorney general, including, serving as public intervener for 12 years, 1983-1997.

PERSONAL -- Married, one son.