Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is seeking a different office this election: Congressman for Indiana’s 9th District, which includes Brown County.
“As attorney general, I have fought for Hoosiers and against federal overreach. Now it’s time to take the fight to Washington,” he said in a news release after filing his paperwork Feb. 1.
Zoeller, of Indianapolis, is a native of New Albany. He calls himself “the only candidate who has served all of the people of the 9th Congressional District.”
He has worked in the attorney general’s office since 2001, serving as chief deputy before being elected to his first term in 2008. He was reelected as attorney general in 2012, receiving more votes than any other statewide candidate.
In June, Zoeller earned the “Attorney General of the Year Award” from the National Association of Attorneys General.
Zoeller created and serves as co-chairman of Indiana’s Prescription Drug Task Force, is a member of the Commission on Improving the Status of Children in Indiana, supports the expansion of school resource officers and serves as the National Association of Attorneys General Tobacco Committee co-chair.
The other accomplishments he lists are enhancing privacy protections for Hoosiers through the expansion of the Do Not Call law to include cellphones and providing for parents to obtain credit freezes on their minor children to protect them from identity theft.
Before entering state government, Zoeller spent 10 years as an executive assistant to Dan Quayle, first in Quayle’s U.S. Senate office and then in the vice president’s office.
Zoeller is a certified mediator — “a skill set Congress could desperately use,” his news release said. “I believe the ability to ‘get to yes’ has served me well in working with people who have different views, different beliefs and goals. And there are many issues in which we need to ‘get to yes’ if we are to build a better nation.”
The Indiana State Fraternal Order of Police have endorsed Zoeller for Congress — the first time the organization has endorsed a candidate in a contested primary, Zoeller’s campaign reported.
Incumbent 9th District Congressman Todd Young is running for U.S. senator.
Other Republican candidates for the 9th District seat are engineer Robert Hall, business owner Trey Hollingsworth, and State Sens. Erin Houchin and Brent Waltz.
Bob Kern, James McClure Jr., Bill Thomas and Shelli Yoder are vying for the Democratic nomination.
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Hometown: New Albany
Occupation: Indiana attorney general
Political experience: Two-term attorney general; former executive assistant to U.S. Senator and Vice President Dan Quayle
Family: Wife, Kerrie, and three children
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