INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill announced Monday that he is entering Indiana’s 2024 gubernatorial race nearly three years after his re-election bid failed. was baffled by allegations that he groped four drunk women at a party.
Hill, 62, announced his run in a statement in which he said he was joining the race for the Republican nomination “after much prayer and thought” and highlighted his conservative credentials.
“The Hoosiers crave a proven conservative leader with the courage to stand up for the traditional values on which our Republic was built. Our campaign will focus on a positive vision for Indiana, restoring trust in our institutions, protecting our children, investing in our law enforcement, prioritizing rebuilding our economy, and placing the needs of Hoosiers above the manipulation of Washington, DC,” he said.
Hill has built a following among social conservatives during his tenure and his entry into the gubernatorial race could further complicate what is already shaping up to be a costly fight for the Republican nomination. US Senator Mike Braun, Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden are already in the running to replace Republican Governor Eric Holcomb, who cannot seek re-election due to term limits. .
Hill said in early June that he was considering running for governor and expected to make a decision within weeks as he and his wife were “praying intently for guidance.”
Hill won the election for state attorney general in 2016 after 14 years as a prosecutor in Elkhart County, northern Indiana. He had been considered a rising African-American star among Republicans and had built himself as an anti-abortion and tough-on-crime crusader, making appearances on Fox News to discuss topics including homelessness issues in San Francisco.
But he faced calls for his resignation from Holcomb and many other Republican leaders in the state after allegations emerged that he groped women at a 2018 party at an Indianapolis bar. . He denied any wrongdoing, but the state Supreme Court ordered a 30-day suspension of his attorney’s license after finding “by clear and convincing evidence that (Hill) committed the criminal act of beatings.” and injuries” against three female legislative staffers and a state legislator during the party.
The allegations were a key campaign issue when he narrowly lost the 2020 Republican Attorney General’s nomination for re-election to Todd Rokita, who took office in January 2021.
Hill failed in another attempt at a political comeback last year when he lost a vote among Republican precinct committee members to replace U.S. Representative Jackie Walorski in the election ballot after her death in a car crash. road. Business executive Rudy Yakym won the GOP nomination and election for the Northern Indiana 2nd District seat.
Whoever wins the Republican nomination will seek to extend the party’s dominance in the state, which includes winning five straight gubernatorial elections since 2004. Former public schools superintendent Jennifer McCormick, who won the election as a Republican in 2016 alongside Hill and Holcomb but later broke with the Statehouse GOP, announcing in May that it was seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.