Todd Rokita thanks supporters at the Indiana Republican party victory party on Nov. 5, 2024. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a Republican, claimed a knockout victory over Democrat challenger Destiny Wells on Tuesday.
The Associated Press called the race shortly before 9 p.m. Eastern, with Rokita leading 59.5% to Wells’ 40.5%. About 48% of the vote was in.
“The people of Indiana have rejected this push to the left, and because of this overwhelming vote tonight, I will continue to put us first, to put Indiana first,” Rokita told a supportive crowd at an Indiana Republican Party election event.
Rokita said he had run a “positive campaign” for attorney general, noting that he hadn’t once mentioned Wells.
His challenger, meanwhile, campaigned on restraint — drawing a sharp contrast to Rokita’s combative approach.
“Let me ask you: Are we going to let them win?” he asked Republican delegates while onstage — in red boxing gloves — at a June convention.
“I’d say now is the time to keep fighting, to lead boldly, to take the gloves off to protect Hoosiers, preserve and defend liberty in this country,” he bellowed.
Rokita has led legal fights over policies put forth by President Joe Biden’s administration on unauthorized immigration, climate regulations and more.
“We’ll protect our economy from this green new scam and all the other things,” he said, as the crowd whooped.
He has also taken on Indiana schools through his “Eyes on Education” portal, which collects documents purporting to expose critical race theory materials and gender identity policies.
And he’s championed “pro-life” policies, pushing the state to release abortion records to anti-abortion activists and leading a campaign against an Indianapolis doctor after she performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape survivor. Rokita’s complaint led to a licensing board reprimand for Dr. Caitlin Bernard — but his own public comments about the doctor earned him rebuke from the state’s top court.
Rokita on Tuesday said he’d stay on that path, and defend anti-transgender laws.
“We will continue to ensure boys do not compete in girls sports — and stay out of their bathrooms,” he said to loud cheers. “Because of your great General Assembly, we are able to make sure that those surgeries on minors, those transgender surgeries, are stopped and prohibited in the State of the Union.”
Rokita has also fought allegedly abusive landlords in courts on behalf of Hoosier tenants, and has been active in the state’s efforts to hold opioid manufacturers and distributors accountable for the deadly crisis.
On Tuesday, he emphasized his work overseeing the state’s unclaimed property division, returning millions to residents.
“We will do all this and more,” Rokita said. “We will never forget that we get our marching orders from the people of this state, and not the other way around.”
Wells hasn’t yet publicly conceded.
This story will be updated.