Former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager doesn't rule out another run for elective office, but she said she's glad she's now practicing law outside the political arena.

"I miss the people at the Wisconsin Department of Justice and I miss the work challenges that are there," Lautenschlager said in a recent interview. "I don't miss the political nature of the job."

Lautenschlager, 52, of Fond du Lac, was the high-profile Democratic state attorney general from 2002 until January, when she was replaced by Republican J.B. Van Hollen. She lost the Democratic primary to Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk.

Now Lautenschlager is at Lawton & Cates, a Madison law firm, where she works on environmental, consumer protection and other civil issues. She also has clients who have matters before state attorneys general around the country.

In her four years as attorney general, Lautenschlager pursued public corruption, environmental and health-care cases.

But she also was convicted of drunken driving in 2004 after steering a state car into a ditch. That opened the door for Falk's primary challenge.

Asked if she plans to run for office again, Lautenschlager said, "I've learned never to say never, but I'm very happy working at Lawton & Cates pursuing issues in the private sector."

A former U.S. attorney appointed by former President Clinton, Lautenschlager said she will not challenge U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Fond du Lac, in 2008. Petri defeated Lautenschlager in 1992 when she challenged him for that seat.

In a recent www.wispolitics.com straw poll at the state Democratic Party convention, Lautenschlager was the top vote-getter among potential candidates for attorney general in 2010 with 158 votes. Seventeen people thought she would be the best candidate to run for governor.

Lautenschlager said she enjoyed the politics and the policymaking part of being state attorney general. But she also decried that the job was a political one, saying outsiders have "politicized" the office beyond its scope of being Wisconsin's top law enforcement officer.

She said her office's decisions were based on an honest interpretation of the law. But political and special-interest groups evaluated the decisions according to their effect on political parties, activists or the special interests rather than on whether it was correct legally, she said.

"Oftentimes people, including well-meaning supporters, feel you should make decisions based on the politics of the situation rather than what's right with the law," Lautenschlager said.

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