Rokita wins re-election as secretary of state

INDIANAPOLIS -- Republicans appeared on their way to keeping control of the three statewide offices up for grabs Tuesday.\nRepublican Secretary of State Todd Rokita retained his office, beating Democratic challenger Joe Pearson, and Republican Richard Mourdock defeated Michael Griffin for treasurer. Republican Tim Berry was leading Judy Anderson in the race for auditor, according to unofficial results tabulated by The Associated Press.\nThe statewide wins were encouraging to the party -- even if Republicans lost other offices, said Mike Murphy, chairman of the Marion County Republican Party.\n"It shows that this is still a clearly Republican state," Murphy said. "It gives the voters -- both Republicans and Democrats -- the most qualified, the most experienced candidates with absolute integrity. That's what all citizens in the state deserve."\nDemocratic challengers ousted three Republicans for closely contested U.S. House seats.\nBut in the races for statewide offices, Republicans had an advantage. Rokita and Berry had held statewide offices before, and all three Republicans raised far more money than their Democratic challengers.\nVictories would continue GOP control of all elected state executive branch offices, as the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and state superintendent of public instruction also are held by Republicans.\nRokita had upset some Democrats by pushing a new law that requires voters to bring photo identification to the polls. But Rokita said he was proud of his work on the law and mentioned it in a campaign commercial.\n"Tonight I was ready to be judged on my efforts," Rokita said Tuesday night. "What we're seeing now are Hoosiers appreciating that effort."\nThere was little talk in the last few months about the races for the three statewide offices, which were all created by the Indiana Constitution and come with important duties. The secretary of state oversees all elections in Indiana, the treasurer invests millions of state dollars and the auditor takes care of the state's books.\nThe Libertarian Party appeared to retain its automatic ballot access for the next four years as Mike Kole received about 3 percent of the vote for secretary of state, according to unofficial results. The Libertarians needed to receive 2 percent of the vote in that race to maintain that access.