In the general election, he narrowly defeated Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, who had previously bested Lautenschlager in the Democratic primary.

Upon taking office in 2007, Van Hollen took on a backlog of DNA evidence at the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory.

He worked with the Wisconsin Legislature to secure additional resources to solve the backlog and created new efficiencies at the Crime Lab.

[3] In April 2010, Van Hollen reached that goal and eliminated the backlog of DNA evidence at the Crime Lab.

[5] In September 2008, Van Hollen sued the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, the state elections agency, to force it check voter registrations for accuracy.

Van Hollen appealed the judge's ruling but later dropped it when the Government Accountability Board updated their voter check procedure.