Karen Tallian and Jonathan Weinzapfel, the two Democratic candidates for attorney general, both say Curtis Hill is a liability for the state.
The Republican attorney general is serving a 30-day suspension handed down by the Indiana Supreme Court because the court said he violated professional conduct rules and committed battery when he groped four women at a downtown Indianapolis bar two years ago.
But Tallian and Weinzapfel say the election in November is about much more than Hill's conduct in that incident.
"What he did is bad enough," Tallian said. "But his policy positions are worse."
Tallian, a longtime state senator from Portage Dunes, and Weinzapfel, a former Evansville mayor, are vying for the Democratic Party nomination as the state party convention approaches Saturday.
The attorney general nominee is selected by convention state delegates rather than voters in the primary. But the process will be different this year because the coronavirus pandemic prompted party officials to hold a virtual convention.
Spokesman Phil Johnson said ballots were mailed to convention delegates May 22 and must be returned by June 12. The votes will be tallied June 15-17, with the Democratic nominee announced June 18.
Karen Tallian
Tallian, who has represented portions of Porter and LaPorte counties in the Indiana Senate since 2005, graduated from Valparaiso University School of Law in 1990.
During three decades practicing law in northwest Indiana, Tallian represented government entities and dealt with issues related to the environment, zoning and water and sewers. She has appeared in state and federal courts in both Indiana and Illinois.
In the senate, the 69-year-old has championed progressive issues ranging from abortion rights and health care access to LGBTQ rights and reforming marijuana laws.
They are all issues the conservative Hill has used his office to oppose.
"We disagree," she said, "on almost everything."
The differences between Tallian and Weinzapfel are not as dramatic. The biggest, according to Tallian: "I can win. That's number one. I can win."
"I've got a lot of coalitions behind me," she said.
If she wins the nomination and is elected attorney general in November, Tallian said one priority would be removing Indiana from "a partisan fight in federal courts that, if successful, would threaten health coverage for hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers."
In 2018, Hill linked Indiana with 19 other states in a coalition challenging the constitutionality of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Tallian said she would also beef up the office's efforts protecting consumers and fighting Medicaid fraud. And she cited a need to do more to protect workers and employers, and she wants criminal justice reforms to make the system more fair to all Hoosiers while reducing the state's high incarceration rate.
Jonathan Weinzapfel
Weinzapfel, 54, is a partner at the law firm of Jones Wallace in Evansville. He is a graduate of the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
"Frankly, I've been watching the current attorney general and seeing his ethical transgressions and the policy positions he has taken, and I thought this is a time to step up and make a difference," he said of seeking the nomination.
Weinzapfel said his varied experiences, both in public service and the private sector, sets him apart from Tallian and all of the GOP candidates. He worked as an aide to former 8th District Congressman Frank McCloskey, served as a state representative from 1999-2003, and was mayor of Evansville from 2004-11. From 2014-19, Weinzapfel was chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College in Evansville.
As mayor and chancellor, Weinzapfel said, "you have to make decisions and you're held accountable on it on a daily basis."
"It's that experience plus the fact that I've run campaigns and won in Republican areas," he said. "I've also demonstrated my fundraising prowess. Just in the first quarter of this year we raised almost $180,000, which is more than all my competitors for the office combined, and I have a track record of getting things done. I think that's something that's going to be very appealing to not only Democrats but moderate Republicans and independents."
Like Tallian, Weinzapfel said his first priority if elected in November is withdrawing Indiana from the lawsuit challenging the federal Affordable Care Act.
"It seems to me that there are really four main issues that are ongoing right now that I think I will inherit if elected," he said. In addition to the ACA lawsuit, he cited holding charter schools accountable for how funding is used and maximizing the money Indiana could receive in a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers to ensure the funds support hard-hit communities and the services Hoosiers need.
The fourth issue, he said, is looking at Indiana's nursing homes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, including the lack of transparency about cases and deaths.
"Why is that not being shared with the public? I think they have a right to know," he said.
Weinzapfel said he feels confident he has the support to win the party nomination and defeat whoever the Republican nominee is in November. Hill faces three challengers in the Republican primary.
"What this is about is restoring honor, integrity and purpose to the office," he said. "It's been lost under Curtis Hill. And I think the people of Indiana deserve an ethical attorney general who's going to fight for Hoosier families."
Contact Tim Evans at 317-444-6204 or tim.evans@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @starwatchtim.
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Democratic attorney general candidates say they want to restore integrity to the office - IndyStar
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