Wells challenges Rokita in bid for state’s top legal post
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Todd Rokita faces a challenge from a familiar face in his bid for a second term as Indiana’s attorney general.
Destiny Wells, who ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state two years ago, is carrying the Democratic Party’s banner in this year’s race for the state’s top legal job. The attorney general’s race is the only statewide election this year that lacks a third-party candidate.
Todd Rokita
Rokita, a Republican who served eight years each as secretary of state and in Congress before being elected attorney general in 2020, said he’s running for another term because he loves fighting for the people of Indiana. During his time in office, Rokita has joined in numerous lawsuits against the Biden Administration over issues ranging from the border and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments to pistol braces.
In an interview with News 8 for All INdiana Politics, Rokita said it’s the job of the attorney general to sue on behalf of the state anytime an issue comes up that, in his view, threatens Indiana’s sovereignty.
“There are all kinds of things that (a presidential) administration can do and then this one has done that are unconstitutional, that affects our sovereignty, that hurts the people of this state,” he said. “So you bet I’m going to continue to fight against it.”
Indiana has some of the weakest tenant protection laws in the country. Asked if they should be strengthened, Rokita said he has told lawmakers about the changes he wants and it’s now up to them whether to make them.
In the meantime, he said he has been able to make good use of the state’s existing housing laws. On the state’s abortion ban, Rokita said he would not prosecute someone for assisting another person in going to a neighboring state for an abortion because that’s not part of state law.
In recent weeks, Rokita sought execution dates for two of the four men on Indiana’s death row who have exhausted their appeals. Rokita said he can’t discuss actions related to the other two but he added it’s time for the state to carry out justice in the most heinous crimes.
Destiny Wells
Wells briefly worked as a deputy under then-Attorney General Curtis Hill, a Republican. She said the controveries surrounding Hill and Rokita show it’s time for a change in the office.
Wells said she wants the attorney general to be the people’s attorney. To that end, she said she would set up a worker’s rights task force and a children’s bill of rights.
She would step up enforcement of landlord-tenant laws and lobby the legislature to increase tenant protections. She also said she would shut down Rokita’s Eyes on Education portal, which allows parents to submit anonymous complaints about materials used in their child’s education.
“That portal is completely antithetical to how the rule of law is supposed to look,” she said. “That portal is something out of the Red Scare, where anybody can blame somebody, they can put something about a teacher online and it could be not true.”
Wells has criticized Rokita for involving the state in lawsuits involving federal policy, saying the attorney general’s resources should be devoted to matters that directly affect Indiana.
She did not rule out suing a reelected President Donald Trump if she felt the Constitution was being violated, saying the attorney general should approach such matters on a case-by-case basis.
Wells said absent a court ruling against it, she would defend the state’s abortion ban in court despite her strident criticism of it. That’s because it’s the job of the attorney general to represent the state in court. She said she would not engage in other actions related to the ban, such as investigating doctors for potentially providing abortion services in violation of the law.
Wells would not directly answer whether she would seek execution dates for two death row inmates who have exhausted their appeals. She said she would take her cues from the governor.
All INdiana Politics airs at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WISH-TV.