Indiana Democrats on Saturday slated their candidates for the November 8 general election.
John Gregg and Christina Hale officially accepted their nominations for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively.
Gregg, a former Indiana House speaker, and Hale, a state representative, laid out their own proposals and backgrounds as they addressed more than two thousand delegates at the Democratic state convention in Indianapolis.
But they talked more about what they call the failings of the Pence administration.
Hale says Indiana was on the right track until Pence took office.
“Now, thanks to Governor Pence’s compulsion to tell people who to love, what to do with their bodies and even where to go to the bathroom, he’s embarrassed our state,” Hale says.
Gregg says it’s the job of a governor to leave Indiana a better place than they found it.
“That is the job that Mike Pence has not done,” Gregg says. “That is the job that Mike Pence no longer deserves. He’s had his chance. We cannot stand him for four more years.”
Gregg previously faced Pence in the race for governor in 2012, losing by about 3 percentage points.
In contrast to the Indiana Republican convention, there was no suspense as Hoosier Democrats chose their nominees for State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Attorney General.
Incumbent State Superintendent Glenda Ritz briefly mentioned what she dubbed “partisan attacks” from Republicans during her four years in office.
Ritz focused more on her goals for the next four years, including universal pre-kindergarten, an end to assigning schools a letter grade and getting rid of the ISTEP test.
“Our state needs a superintendent who moves beyond ideology and politics and puts the focus where it needs to be- educating our children to be prosperous in our economy,” Ritz says.
In accepting his nomination for Attorney General, former Lake County judge Lorenzo Arredondo says one way he will define himself will be through what he doesn’t do.
“As your Attorney General, I would not waste taxpayers’ money by filing lawsuits that you cannot win,” Arredondo says.
Ritz will face challenger Republican Jennifer McCormick, the Yorktown Community Schools superintendent.
Arredondo will square off against Elkhart County prosecutor Curtis Hill, in the campaign to replace outgoing Attorney General Greg Zoeller.
