AG Race Breaks Wide Open

It’s been a quiet week in Lake Carterbegone, my hometown, out in the heart of the Midwest.

Err, yeah.

Was a quiet week in Lake Carterbegone.

Anyway, a quiet week of behind-the-scenes maneuvering burst into the open on Tuesday evening, with the announcement of the candidacy of Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas and the (Hoosierpundit-predicted) withdrawal of Secretary of State Todd Rokita from the race entirely (due, of course, to the also-predicted family considerations of a newborn).

(Read more after the leap)

Mayor Jon Costas is seeking the Republican nomination for Indiana attorney general, he told The Times Tuesday afternoon.

Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita, bowed out Tuesday to make way for Costas.

“My main concern is that we have a strong leader who can effectively represent the interests of the people of Indiana. I recently spoke with a good friend, Mayor Jon Costas, of Valparaiso, who has expressed interest in running for similar reasons,” Rokita, a Munster native, said in a statement. “Because of this, I would support his candidacy 100 percent, not only for the strong leadership he will provide to another corner of the Statehouse, but it would allow me to continue my current service as secretary of state and spend more time with our newborn this year.”

The sudden announcement by Costas broke a gentlemen’s agreement requested by the State GOP that urged potential candidates to not declare their candidacies and to not formally campaign until the environment had become more settled and the situation less chaotic.

This agreement was sought in order to avoid a damaging convention floor fight, particularly to avoid a feared repeat of the 1992 debacle. Greg Zoeller has been visiting Lincoln Day dinners as a representative of Steve Carter and Todd Rokita in his capacity as Secretary of State, for example.

Costas’ announcement has tossed this agreement by the wayside. Moreover, he has indicated in his announcement that he has support from Governor Mitch Daniels.

“The governor is aware that I’m seeking the nomination, and he seems very positive on my candidacy,” Costas said. “We’ve had a great relationship. And I think if you look at the type of leadership that he’s bringing to the state, in a very real sense we’ve brought that type of leadership, in sort of a microcosm, to the city of Valparaiso.”

Late last week (right after my last post on the AG race), multiple sources put forward Costas’ name, though I received contradictory indications. One said that Costas was the project of northwestern Indiana and Lake County gray eminence Dan Dumezich. Another said that he was the Governor’s man for the AG job. I could not corroborate the two sources beyond Costas’ name until now (both may well be the case, who knows).

If Costas is indeed the Governor’s pick as rumors indicate, it is a pick that comes, according to sources, without the nod or advance knowledge of the GOP State Committee (at least the collective committee; individual members may have known). Moreover, the manner in which Costas has entered the race, abrogating the quiet agreement asked for by the state party in order to get a jump-start on his potential rivals, is unlikely to inspire confidence when it comes to avoiding the very situation that the quiet gentlemen’s agreement was designed to prevent.

The next few days will be critical. If Costas is Mitch’s Man, then he has a short time to cement his position. And he may not be able to do so. Greg Zoeller has been quietly working the Lincoln Day circuit building support (though I did not see him at the Orange County Lincoln Day on Monday night) and other candidates, such as Election Commission Chair Tom Wheeler, are also quietly moving to build support.

I am told, for example, that Zoeller and his supporters has been contacting county chairmen and are collecting endorsements. Other candidates are surely taking other preparatory actions, whether lining up supporters or arranging for sources of campaign funding.

The process, which was happening behind closed doors, has been cast into the open by Costas’ announcement. And if it turns out that Costas is the Governor’s man, and the other candidates were somehow duped by this state party agreement into staying quiet until everything could be arranged for Mitch’s anointed one to get the drop on them, then there are going to be a lot of unhappy potential candidates and potential supporters out there.

As a side note, there are indications Secretary of State Todd Rokita is now working to shore up his credentials among social conservatives.

Social conservative super-lawyer Jim Bopp wrote a letter to the Indy Star praising Rokita’s values credentials this week, and the Secretary of State attended the annual Vanderburgh County Right to Life Dinner last night along with outgoing Attorney General Steve Carter.

Even out of the AG race, Rokita seems to be working hard to bolster any weaknesses in his traditional values cred (before he departs for official trips to Germany and Taiwan).

Can you say gubernatorial candidacy? Sure, I knew you could.

(This post is also available at the Hoosierpundit)