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Monday, June 02, 2008

Ind. Gov't. Race for Republican nomination for Attorney General ends today

The race between outgoing AG Steve Carter's chief deputy, Greg Zoeller, and Valparaiso Major Jon Costas will end today with one of them being selected the Republican nominee at the state Republican Convention. Carter supports Zoeller, Gov. Mitch Daniels supports Costas.

Russ Pulliam has a column in the Saturday Indianapolis Star giving a good picture of each candidate and his supporters.

John Byrnes of the Gary Post-Tribune writes today about "The struggle for the soul of Lake County Republicans." Some quotes:

Zoeller has not conceded Costas' home turf, making repeated trips to Northwest Indiana in recent weeks to meet with delegates face-to-face.

"I just met with Greg Zoeller the other day," said Porter County Republican Chairman Chuck Williams, a staunch Costas supporter. "He certainly has been around."

Zoeller has the support of outgoing Attorney General Steve Carter, who hails from the area.

Carter earned the respect of many locals for his vote fraud investigation in Lake County and his civil racketeering lawsuit against former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick and associates.

Zoeller, Carter's chief deputy, has touted his experience in those investigations and promised to actively pursue them.

Costas' connection to the law firm Burke Costanza & Cuppy LLP, where he is an "of counsel" attorney, has privately left some local Republicans with reservations.

The firm worked extensively for the city of East Chicago during Pastrick's administration, and Burke attorneys defended two men named along with Pastrick in the civil racketeering case.

Interviewed earlier this month, Costas said he is not familiar enough with the RICO case to say how he might proceed with it, if elected.

Costas' fuzziness on the details of the Pastrick prosecution gave Zoeller pause.

"Frankly, I wouldn't think it would become too hard to get familiar with the case if it's in your firm. I would be willing to provide him with (a copy)," Zoeller said recently.

But Williams said Costas' lifetime in Lake County has steeled him to fight corruption.

"He grew up in Gary, and moved away from there," Williams said. "He knows firsthand about bad government and good government, and he's ready to step in and do what needs to be done to combat government fraud."

John Gramlich, of the national Stateline.org ("Where policy and politics news click") wrote Friday under the headline "Indiana AG race mirrors Obama-Clinton." A quote from the long article:
Ahead of the convention, meanwhile, the candidates are trying to make an impression on every last delegate in an effort to sway them one way or the other.

Zoeller, currently a deputy to Carter, has vowed to campaign in key parts of the state “until every one of the delegates has met or talked to me,” according to news accounts. He told Stateline.org he has enlisted campaign help from his famous cousin, professional golfer Fuzzy Zoeller, who is a Democrat but nevertheless will “do a testimonial (at the convention) about what a good guy I am.”

Costas, mayor of the northern Indiana city of Valparaiso, has argued that his popularity in what is traditionally a Democratic part of the state would boost the Republican ticket — headed by Daniels’ re-election bid — in November. He has racked up the support of elected Republicans in the state, including most of the GOP leaders in the General Assembly. Daniels himself has said he is backing Costas because the candidate would contribute geographic diversity to the party’s ticket in the fall.

The Republicans’ race has been compounded not only by the state’s unusual election rules, but by an unexpected March 23 announcement by Carter that he would not seek re-election. The decision threw a curveball into the nominating process, as a seat that party leaders expected Carter to retain without much trouble suddenly opened and became the focus of intra-party jostling — much to the glee of state Democrats.

While the contest between Costas and Zoeller has not turned negative, it has taken on a sense of urgency that is unusual: the shortened campaign condensed a meet-and-greet process between candidates and convention delegates from a more than a year in most election cycles into about two months this year.

“The chaos and turmoil that the Republican party is going through isn’t going to help them. It reflects poorly on their effort to create a statewide campaign,” said Thomas Cook, a spokesman with the Indiana Democratic Party. Cook said Democrats are united behind [likely Democratic nominee Linda L. Pence], who has been able to raise funds and make connections “while the Republicans deal with their in-house troubles.”

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 2, 2008 06:59 AM
Posted to Indiana Government