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Monday, June 02, 2008

Ind. Gov't. - "Costas falls to Zoeller in AG bid"

From the NWI Times:

Deputy Attorney General Greg Zoeller defeated Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas to win the Republican nomination for Indiana attorney general Monday.

Costas fell to Zoeller, 707 delegate votes to 1,061.

Indiana GOP delegates cast secret ballots at the state party's convention in Indianapolis, the results of which were made available just before 4 p.m. Costas' loss comes despite endorsements from top Hoosier Republican leaders, including Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Zoeller, a New Albany, Ind., native, has served as sitting Attorney General Steve Carter's assistant since 2001.

The race for attorney general began shortly after Carter's surprise Easter Sunday decision to forgo a bid for a third term.

From the Indy Star, in a lengthy story by Mary Beth Schneider:
Indiana Republicans picked Greg Zoeller, the current chief deputy attorney general, to be their nominee for attorney general.

Zoeller, 53, defeated Jon Costas, a 50-year-old who in November had just won his second term as mayor of Valparaiso. Zoeller won 1,061 votes from the Republicans who gathered at their state convention at the Indiana Convention Center today. Costas won 707 votes.

The delegates, in picking Zoeller, rejected the pick of Gov. Mitch Daniels, who had endorsed Costas saying his northwestern Indiana home gave geographic balance to the Republican ticket. Daniels is from Indianapolis, while Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and the man nominated today to be superintendent of public instruction, Greater Clark County schools superintendent Tony Bennett, are both from southern Indiana.

Outgoing Attorney General Steve Carter, who recently decided against seeking a fourth term, had endorsed Zoeller.

The candidates did not get to address the convention directly before the vote was taken by the delegates. Instead, each showed a video, with Costas sitting in front of a burning fireplace with his guitar in the background and his words drowned out by supporters chanting his name.

Zoeller's video in part included his relative golfer Fuzzy Zoeller, who joked that Zoeller is a bad golfer, but a good attorney.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 2, 2008 05:15 PM
Posted to Indiana Government