Updated May 20 at 4:45 p.m.
There’s been a new shakeup in the Republican race for the Indiana Attorney General nomination – former Secretary of State and U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita announced his candidacy Wednesday.
Rokita has been a major figure in the Indiana Republican Party for nearly two decades. He served eight years as Secretary of State before becoming a four-term congressman. He left his seat in 2018 for an unsuccessful Senate bid.
In a statement, Rokita notes he’s the only GOP candidate for attorney general to win two statewide elections. And he says while normally he wouldn’t run against a Republican incumbent, he calls current Attorney General Curtis Hill “wounded.”
The state Supreme Court suspended Hill’s law license last week after it determined he criminally battered four women.
Decatur County Prosecutor Nate Harter and Indianapolis attorney John Westercamp are also in the running for the nomination, which will be decided by Republican state convention delegates in the coming weeks.
Gov. Eric Holcomb won't say which candidate he's backing in the nomination fight.
"In terms of who I’m going to back in another race, I’m going to back the delegates because they will decide," Holcomb says.
Holcomb has called on Curtis Hill to resign since allegations first surfaced in 2018 that he groped four women.
Democrats have their own convention fight for the nomination between Sen. Karen Tallian (D-Ogden Dunes) and former Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel.
This story has been updated.
Contact Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.
