INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A Democratic candidate for attorney general on Friday said she would focus on collaboration and empowering parents if elected.

Beth White is the second major Democratic candidate to enter the race to challenge Republican incumbent Todd Rokita. Destiny Wells, who was the party’s nominee for secretary of state in 2022, launched her own bid in November.

White is a former Marion County clerk and deputy prosecutor. She most recently led the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking.

In an interview with News 8 for Sunday’s “All INdiana Politics,” White said she would prioritize prosecuting sex traffickers and child predators if elected attorney general. Although the attorney general has no operational control over any law enforcement agencies, White said the office can collaborate with county and federal prosecutors and with law enforcement agencies. She said she fears Rokita is not working closely enough with such agencies on sex crimes.

White said the attorney general’s office can work to empower parents, educators and others to understand what children are seeing and doing on social media, and how to watch out for signs that a child might be vulnerable to exploitation. Besides helping to head off sex trafficking, she said this would be a more effective way to mitigate the negative effects of social media than suing social media companies, though she said she would not rule out further legal action.

White has been an outspoken critic of the state’s near-total abortion ban and lobbied against it when lawmakers passed it two years ago. If elected attorney general, she said she would defend the law in court as the law requires her office to do, but she added she would not prosecute doctors.

“What our current attorney general has done in going after doctors for performing completely legal medical procedures is outrageous and it has to stop,” she said. “Doctors and other health care providers in the state Indiana have to be free of the kind of harassment and government overreach that we have seen from this attorney general.”

A Wells campaign spokesperson did not directly address White’s announcement when asked about it, instead saying in a statement, “Destiny is inspired by the overwhelming support she’s received in her campaign to give Hoosiers an Attorney General they can trust. It’s clear that integrity must be restored given Todd Rokita’s ethics bankruptcy.”

There is no primary for attorney general. Instead, party delegates will chose the nominees at the state party conventions this summer.

“All INdiana Politics” airs at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WISH-TV.