(FORT WAYNE, Ind.) — The four Republicans seeking the nomination for attorney general have made their pitch to the delegates at the party’s online state convention, with incumbent Curtis Hill at the center of the debate.
Hill, former Congressman Todd Rokita, Decatur County Prosecutor Nate Harter, and Zionsville attorney John Westercamp all traveled to Fort Wayne to talk to delegates there directly, while delegates across the state heard recorded speeches from the four candidates. Like Democrats five days earlier, Republicans moved their convention online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
All four candidates stressed their conservative and anti-abortion credentials, but the groping allegations against Hill hover over the race. Hill returned to the job just this week after a monthlong suspension of his law license, over accounts of unwanted touching of four women at a party celebrating the adjournment of the General Assembly. Hill told delegates he’s “not perfect,” but declared himself the victim of “relentless attacks and smears designed to destroy me politically.” He contends Democrats know they can’t beat him and want Republicans to do the job for them.
Rokita accuses Hill of blaming everyone but himself and refusing to accept responsibility for his actions. He notes Hill’s suspension was a unanimous ruling from Indiana’s Supreme Court, whose five justices are all Republican appointees, “not a Nancy Pelosi impeachment clown show.”
Rokita and Harter both warn delegates can’t risk losing the seat to Democrats. Harter says it’s a prescription for “expansive government overreach,” while Rokita predicts a Democrat in the office would endanger religious freedom and conservative efforts to curb abortion.
Former Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel won Democrats’ nomination on Wednesday. Hill ridicules the idea that Republicans would split their tickets between President Trump and Weinzapfel. Rokita predicts if Hill’s the nominee, Republicans will lose not only that race but others.
Hill embraced what’s been Democrats’ leading talking point against him besides the groping incident, boasting he joined a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton which led to the federal health care law being declared unconstitutional. An appeal is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear arguments in October.
Rokita and Westercamp also slammed Hill for a lavish renovation of the attorney general’s office. Westercamp says he’d save taxpayers $2 million in his first term by canceling the remainder of that project.
Harter and Westercamp both avoided mentioning Hill by name. Harter focused on his resume as prosecutor, describing himself as a “straight shooter” who’s been unafraid to make tough calls, including the successful prosecutions of a local police chief and a prosecutor from a neighboring county. He referenced Hill only obliquely at the end of his speech, saying it’s time to close what he calls a “sordid chapter” in the state’s history. Westercamp says he’s running to make the office “more efficient, effective and transparent.”
Hill, Rokita and Westercamp all sought to tie themselves closely to President Trump. Westercamp says he’d bring private sector experience to the office the way Trump and Indiana Senator Mike Braun have. Delegates logging in to the convention livestream were greeted by a Rokita web ad which opened with Trump praising the then-congressman. And Hill preceded his speech with a campaign ad studded with four separate clips of Trump. He declared he and Trump both proudly wear battle scars from unwarranted accusations and investigations initiated because they’re “a threat to Democrats and the radical liberal agenda.”
Delegates should receive ballots in the mail on Monday, and will have until July 9 to return them. The ranked-choice vote count will eliminate the last-place candidate if no candidate wins a majority, and reallocate that candidate’s votes to delegates’ second choices. The party will announce the winner July 10.
