From the Post Tribune:

Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas’ campaign for state attorney general came to a screeching stop Monday on the floor of the State Republican Convention.

Costas lost 1,061 to 707 to Deputy Attorney General Greg Zoeller in a vote by Republican Party delegates to name the party’s nominee for the general election.

Costas lost despite the endorsement of Gov. Mitch Daniels, which the mayor said carries only so much weight in a vote by party regulars.

“These delegates are independent thinkers,” Costas said. “While (the governor’s support) helps, they will make up their own minds.”

Costas said he faced an uphill battle to gain statewide name recognition in a short time after Attorney General Steve Carter announced this spring he would not seek re-election. “I’ve got to sell my own self,” he said.

Carter endorsement cited

Carter’s endorsement of his deputy was a big aid to Zoeller’s campaign, Costas said.

“Steve Carter is very well-respected and he was out campaigning hard for Greg,” Costas said.

The respect was apparent at the convention. When Carter mentioned in his farewell speech the Lake County vote fraud investigation he has made a cornerstone of his administration, a cheer erupted from the Lake County delegation on the convention floor.

Zoeller said he made a point to tell as many Lake County Republican delegates as he could find that he will continue Carter’s political corruption initiatives.

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Meanwhile, Linda Pence officially declared her intentions to run – let the hyperbole fest begin:

Pence is the first Democratic candidate to step forward since former U.S. Rep. Jill Long Thompson won the nomination to run for governor in Indiana’s May 6 primary election.

In past years, Democrats have scrambled to find candidates for statewide office, so party leaders were delighted when Pence announced .

Thursday, in a series of news conferences around the state, Pence promised to use the office to investigate such issues as mortgage and consumer fraud; methamphetamine and drug abuse; the abuse of children by sexual predators; and potential price-gouging by oil companies.

She cited her experience in the U.S. Department of Justice, where she worked from 1974 to 1983, prosecuting “executives who were stealing from Americans and committing corporate crimes.”

“I put them behind bars,” said Pence, who is in private practice with the law firm of Taft Stettinius & Hollister. “I am tireless. I am relentless. For 34 years I have practiced law, concentrating on protecting those who need it most. I have prosecuted criminals. I have made Big Oil pay. I have punished polluters.”

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