Democratic attorney general candidate Chris Biggs said Wednesday that he was better qualified than his Republican opponent  a candidate who, if elected, would use the office to pursue an anti-abortion political agenda.

“I feel like I have the total package,” Biggs, the Geary County prosecutor, said in an interview with the Journal-World. “I’m a professional enforcer of the law, and that’s what the attorney general does.”

Phill Kline, a former state legislator from Shawnee and the Republican candidate, defended his qualifications for the job and accused Biggs of “running a negative, name-calling campaign.”

Biggs said Kline’s legal background was “very spotty” and that Kline wanted to use the office to further his opposition to abortions. “It’s pretty clear with Mr. Kline that he has an agenda,” Biggs said.

In Kansas, state law allows late-term abortions if the mother’s life is in danger or if she is facing severe harm to a major bodily function. It also allows so-called partial-birth abortions when the mother’s life is in danger or when her physical or mental health could be seriously harmed. Anti-abortion advocates have called the mental-health exception a loophole that allows abortions.

Kline said he would enforce abortion law, adding that it currently was not being enforced.

Biggs said his 14 years of experience as a prosecutor, his management experience in administering the prosecutor’s office and his dealings with the Legislature on criminal justice issues made him the best choice for the office.

Kline said that as a former legislator he wrote many of the laws the attorney general enforces.

Kline served in the Legislature from 1993 to 2000. He is a lawyer but has periodically allowed his license to lapse. He was defeated in 2000 in a bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, a Democrat who represents part of Lawrence and the Kansas side of the Kansas City metro area.

In the Aug. 6 Republican primary, Kline defeated state Sen. David Adkins, R-Leawood, to become the GOP nominee for attorney general. The current attorney general, Republican Carla Stovall, is not seeking re-election.

Biggs said that if elected he would work with the Legislature to erase inconsistencies in the state’s method of sentencing criminals. He said too often serious crimes drew more lenient sentences than lesser crimes.

State criminal justice policies too often are driven by how much it would cost to incarcerate offenders instead of punishing offenders and making them provide restitution to crime victims, he said.

In another campaign development, Wyandotte County Sheriff LeRoy Green Jr., a Democrat, endorsed Kline, calling him “a man of honesty and integrity who is dedicated to ensuring justice for all Kansans.”