Candidate profiles: Attorney General

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Linda Pence (D)

Age: 58

Education: B.S. IU-Bloomington; J.D. IU-Indianapolis

Experience: Pence graduated from IU in 1971 with a B.A. in political science. She worked her way through law school at IU while she took night classes and held down two jobs. She began her legal career with the U.S. Department of Justice and has been a practicing trial attorney for 34 years. She was an instructor at the FBI Academy and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. She then began her own law firm in Indianapolis, and continued to break through the glass ceiling in 1995, when she became the first female partner to have her name on the door at one of the city’s 10 largest law firms.

Web site: www.LindaPence.net

Top priorities if elected: ”As Attorney General, I will make the protection of children and families the top priority. We must do more to look out for those of us who are most vulnerable. When elected, I will immediately begin to establish ‘strike forces’ within the office to combat issues that face us. We will have specially trained investigators and prosecutors prepared to assist local officials in issues such as: child deaths, mortgage fraud and drug trafficking. The Attorney General must be a relentless, tireless advocate for all Hoosiers. I am ready to put my 34 years of experience to work to solve our state’s most pressing issues.”

Why are you running? “I am running for Attorney General because I believe that the Attorney General’s office could do so much more to fight for and protect families and children. We need to do more to ensure safety and security for all Hoosiers. I have proposed a program to expand and enhance Indiana’s Child Death Review Board. I will work with the legislature to close a loophole in the law that allows some sexual predators to escape criminal prosecution. As Attorney General, I will protect Hoosier families by aggressively investigating any potential gasoline price fixing and price gouging.”

Greg Zoeller (R)

Age: 53

Education: Degree in computer science from Purdue University; B.S. in Forensic Studies from IU (’79); J.D. from IU School of Law (’82)

Experience: Chief deputy to Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter (2001-present); president and director of the Indiana World Trade Center (1999-2001); senior counsel to the House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform and Oversight (1998); assistant to Vice President Dan Quayle (1989-91); legislative director/state director for U.S. Sen. Dan Quayle (1982-89)

Web site: www.z4ag.com

Top Priorities if elected: “Consumer fraud requires constant vigilance, and with more people purchasing online, there are many new issues raised that require new approaches to safeguard Hoosiers. The Office of the Attorney General has begun to address these issues, but this will present a significant challenge that I will need to address. In my years working with other attorneys general there is an increased ability to coordinate with other states in addressing the growing threats to consumers in this Internet age.

“The Office of the Attorney General has developed a new Identity Theft Unit that works with the victims of identity theft to help them regain their stolen identities and protect them from additional theft of their assets and help them restore their credit. We will need to work to support law enforcement and prosecutors in the areas of investigation and prosecution of crimes of identity theft and serve directly with the victims to assist them with the complexities of restoring their financial security.”

Why you are running? “During the two terms I have served as chief deputy to Attorney General Carter, we have developed the Office of Attorney General into a highly professional public law firm that people recognize as protecting Hoosiers and serving the best interests of the State. I want to continue to lead the office in this same direction.

“I envision the office offering important additional safeguards: to protect our children from Internet sex predators; to offer protection from Internet con artists who prey upon the elderly and most others who are most vulnerable in our state; and to work with prosecutors and law enforcement in their efforts to fight public corruption and crime in our role within the system of criminal justice.”