BROWNSBURG — Inside this local diner in Brownsburg, WRTV met Todd Rokita, the Republican nominee for Indiana Attorney General, and his wife Kathy.
“Thanks for letting us have lunch together today," Rokita said. "We haven’t been able to do it for a long time."
A former U.S. representative and Secretary of State, he did not run for re-election in 2018 to remain in the House, but instead ran for senator, and lost to Mike Braun.
Now, he’s looking for another statewide office.
He’s seeking to replace Curtis Hill as attorney general, whose law license was temporarily suspended over allegations that he groped a state lawmaker and three other women during a party. Hill has denied those allegations.
“It’s one of the reasons that I ran is to bring back integrity to the office,” Rokita said. “I’m stepping up. I’m offering myself to serve with the servant’s heart that we served with when I was Secretary of State.”
Rokita says he’s pleased with the governor’s handling of the coronavirus.
He favors keeping the economy as open as possible, letting people come to work, and saying we’ll be in better shape than other surrounding states.
“We have to continue to protect against federal government overreach, help Donald Trump make sure that the agencies are reigned in, and protect against the negative impact from liberal states around us,” Rokita said. “Because there are attorneys general who can use the court system to over-regulate us.”
In a contentious world, with protests across the country, Rokita says, “law and order, criminal justice. That’s all very important. Especially now given what we see on TV every night.”
He feels strongly about protecting the people and being tough on crime, touting his experience.
“I’m the only one in this race that has prosecuted criminals," Rokita said. "We have 300 years of jail time from when I was your secretary of state working with the prosecution assistants unit and local prosecutors to secure that jail time. The only one who’s fought to have a case all the way to the United States Supreme Court.”
A pro-life politician, defending gun rights, he implemented the nation’s first photo voter identification law.
“We have a record of returning money to taxpayers," Rokita said. "We have a record of fighting waste, fraud and corruption.”
Protecting pre-existing conditions, he says, is also near and dear to his heart.
“Kathy and I, our firstborn Teddy is a special-needs young man now," Rokita said. "He’s 12. And he’s grown up before eyes. And we think he’s going to change the world.”
Rokita wants to make sure health care exists for people like Teddy.
“We really enjoy meeting and seeing the people in the state and you can definitely bet that as your attorney general you’ll see a lot of me again.”