Republican Curtis Hill Will Be Indiana's Next Attorney General

Indiana’s next attorney general is Curtis Hill, a Republican from northern Indiana who has been the Elkhart County prosecutor since 2002.

With 95 percent of polls reporting, the Associated Press reports Hill has defeated Democrat Lorenzo Arredondo, with 63 percent of the vote.

Hill will be stepping into the position after two-term Attorney General Greg Zoeller stepped down to make an unsuccessful bid for a U.S. House seat.

During the campaign, Hill pledged to protect Hoosiers from government overreach and regulations. Hill’s other priorities include ensuring Hoosiers do not become victims of fraud or scams and upholding violent crime and substance abuse convictions.

“There’s the issue of federalism, the federal government overreaching into concerns that ought to be up to our people and that’s something that we’re going to focus on,” Hill says.

Hill had a definite financial advantage gaining more than half a million dollars from a Republican attorney general’s advocacy group. The office has been controlled by the GOP since 2001.

Besides representing the state in court, the office is charged to support constituents through consumer protection policies and public health initiatives.

“For me it’s about our constitution and the role of limited government, we as conservatives can take on issues like poverty, like social justice and we can do it with conservative principles and turn this country around,” says Hill.

During his acceptance speech, Hill spoke about the vision of America.

“Where one can have a vision and share it with a few and turn it into a mushroom of courage,” Hill says.

Hill defeated former Lake County Circuit Judge Lorezno Arredondo, who focused on the positives of voter turnout in his concession speech.

“I’m very jubilant to know that this is one of the highest voter turnout rates that this state has ever had,” Arrendondo says.

Hill will be Indiana’s first black Republican attorney general.

READ MORE: For more election results, go to indianapublicmedia.org/election

CORRECTION: A previous version said in the headline and story body that Curtis Hill was the first black attorney general. That was incorrect. Pamela Carter, a Democrat, was elected in 1992. She was the first female attorney general and the first black attorney general. Curtis Hill is the first black Republican attorney general. The story has been updated to reflect those changes.