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Todd Rokita

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Todd Rokita
Todd Rokita.jpg
U.S. House, Indiana, District 4
Incumbent
In office
January 3, 2011-Present
Term ends
January 3, 2015
Years in position 2
PartyRepublican
PredecessorSteve Buyer (R)
Compensation
Base salary$174,000/year
Elections and appointments
Last electionNovember 6, 2012
First elected2010
Next electionNovember 4, 2014
Campaign $$2,415,844
Term limitsN/A
Prior offices
59th Secretary of State of Indiana
2002-2010
Education
Bachelor'sWabash College
J.D.Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis
Personal
BirthdayFebruary 9, 1970
Place of birthChicago, Illinois
ProfessionLawyer
Net worth$715,525
ReligionRoman Catholic
Websites
Office website
Campaign website
Todd Rokita campaign logo

Contents

Theodore Edward "Todd" Rokita (born February 9, 1970) is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Rokita was elected by voters from Indiana's 4th congressional district.

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Rokita is a "rank-and-file Republican".[1]

Rokita won re-election on November 6, 2012.[2]

Biography

Rokita grew up in Munster, located in Lake County in Northwest Indiana. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he was an Eli Lilly Fellow. He has a law degree from Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis.[3]

Career

Political experience

After several years as a practicing attorney in the state, Todd Rokita established himself politically in the Secretary of State's office in 1997, first as its general counsel and then as deputy secretary of state prior to his election for the top position in 2002. Rokita was elected by his national peers to serve on the nine-member federal Executive Board of the Election Assistance Commission. The Commission is charged by law to address election reform issues on a nation-wide basis. Rokita has testified about Indiana's voting reform efforts before the United States Congress. He also serves as Indiana's chief securities fraud investigator having closed hundreds of enforcement actions against violators of securities law, uncovered investor fraud scams, and helped secure numerous felony convictions and millions of dollars in restitution and fines during his tenure. Rokita has served as both treasurer and president of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS).

In September 2009, Rokita outlined a plan to reform how Indiana's legislative districts are drawn to reduce gerrymandering. He proposed making it a felony for lawmakers to use political data or incumbents' addresses when drawing electoral maps. Indiana's congressional districts and districts for the Indiana State Senate and Indiana House of Representatives will next be redrawn after the 2010 Census. Rokita says boundaries should follow existing county and township lines, and that each of the 50 Senate districts should be divided into two House districts. This will lead to more competitive legislative elections.

He has received the Aspen-Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, Toll Fellowship from the Council of State Governments, the Indianapolis Choice Award from the Indianapolis Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Merit Award from the International Association of Commercial Administrators (IACA) and the Small Business Statesman of the Year from the National Federation of Independent Business.

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Rokita serves on the following committees:[5]

2011-2012

Issues

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Todd Rokita endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. [7]

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Voted "No" Rokita voted against the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 151 Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[8]

Elections

2012

See also: Indiana's 4th congressional district elections, 2012

Rokita ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing Indiana's 4th District. Rokita was unopposed in the Republican primary and defeated Democrat Tara Nelson in the November 6 general election.[9]

U.S. House, Indiana, District 4 General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Tara Nelson 34.2% 93,015
     Republican Green check mark.jpgTodd Rokita Incumbent 62% 168,688
     Libertarian Benjamin J. Gehlhausen 3.9% 10,565
Total Votes 272,268
Source: Indiana Secretary of State "House of Representatives Election Results"

Full history


2006

  • 2006 Race for Secretary of State - Republican Primary
    • Todd Rokita ran unopposed in this contest
2006 Race for Secretary of State - General Election [12]
Party Candidate Vote Percentage
     Republican Party Approveda Todd Rokita 51.1%
     Democratic Party Joe Pearson 45.6%
     Libertarian Party Mike Kole 3.3%
Total Votes 1,637,098

2002

  • 2002 Race for Secretary of State - Republican Primary
    • Todd Rokita ran unopposed in this contest
2002 Race for Secretary of State - General Election [13]
Party Candidate Vote Percentage
     Republican Party Approveda Todd Rokita 53.4%
     Democratic Party John Fernandez 42.5%
     Libertarian Party Rebecca Sink-Burris 4.1%
Total Votes 1,477,614

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Rokita is available dating back to 2010. Based on available campaign finance records, Rokita raised a total of $2,415,844 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 7, 2013]</ref>.[14]

Todd Rokita's Campaign Contribution History
Year Office Result Contributions
2012 U.S. House (Indiana, District 4) Won $1,321,277
2010 U.S. House (Indiana, District 4) Won $1,094,567
Grand Total Raised $2,415,844

2012

Breakdown of the source of Rokita's campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Rokita won re-election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that election cycle, Rokita's campaign committee raised a total of $1,321,277 and spent $942,938.[15]

2010

Breakdown of the source of Rokita's campaign funds before the 2010 election.

Rokita won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. During that election cycle, Rokita's campaign committee raised a total of $1,094,567 and spent $799,156 .[16]

2006

2006 Race for Secretary of State - Campaign Contributions
Total Raised $968,665
Total Raised by Primary Opponent N/A
Total Raised by Gen. Election Opponent $172,932
Top 5 Contributors Indiana Republican Party $229,244 (23.67% of Total)
Committee to Elect Todd Smith $19,238 (1.99%)
Friends of Kathryn Densborn $19,238 (1.99%)
Bill Davis for Indiana State Rep. District 33 $19,238 (1.99%)
Committee to Elect Connie Basham $19,238 (1.99%)
Individuals v. Institutions $387,425 (40.0%)
$243,947 (25.2%)
In v. Outside State $899,577 (92.9%)
$67,220 (7%)

Controversies

Black voter comment

At a Republican event in Indiana, Rokita encouraged his political peers to reach out to the black community. While discussing how ninety percent of blacks ultimately end up voting for the Democratic Party in national elections, he remarked, "How can that be? Ninety to ten. Who's the master and who's the slave in the relationship? How can that be healthy?" Four days following these remarks, Rokita issued an apology. [17] Rokita also met privately with 11 members of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus to apologize for the comment. Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, told reporters, “He apologized to our satisfaction. We do believe he was sincere in his apology," Smith said. "I think there are greater issues -- education, health, economics for the black community -- that are more important than us spending all this time on a slip of the lip. I do believe that we all make mistakes (and) that if we expect to be forgiven, we need to forgive."

Other roles

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Rokita missed 84 of 1,695 roll call votes from Jan 2011 to Mar 2013. This amounts to 5.0%, which is worse than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.[18]

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Rokita paid his congressional staff a total of $833,583 in 2011. He ranked 72nd on the list of the lowest paid Republican Representative Staff Salaries and he ranked 80th overall of the lowest paid Representative Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Indiana ranked 35th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[19]

Net worth

See also: Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Rokita's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between -$23,947 and $1,454,997. That averages to $715,525, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2011 of $7,859,232. His average net worth increased by 49.53% from 2010.[20]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Rokita's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $-130,966 and $1,087,996. That averages to $478,515, which was lower than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2010 of $7,561,133.[21]

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Rokita ranked 58th in the conservative rankings in 2012.[22]

2011

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Rokita ranked 123rd in the conservative rankings.[23]

Political Positions

Percentage voting with party

The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Todd Rokita voted with the Republican Party 93 of the time, which ranked 97 among the 242 House Republican members in November 2011.[24]

Personal

Rokita and his wife Kathy welcomed their first child, Theodore James Rokita, in February of 2008 and their second son, Ryan Cooper Rokita, in February of 2010. The family resides near Clermont, Indiana. [4]

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Todd + Rokita + Indiana + House

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Todd Rokita News Feed


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External links


References

  1. ↑ Gov Track "Rokita" Accessed May 25, 2012
  2. ↑ Politico "2012 Election Map, Indiana"
  3. ↑ Todd Rokita for Congress "About Todd" Accessed November 5, 2011
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Congressman Todd Rokita "Full Biography" Accessed November 5, 2011
  5. ↑ CQ.com, "House Committee Rosters for the 113th Congress"
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Congressman Todd Rokita "Committees and Caucuses" Accessed November 5, 2011
  7. ↑ The Hill, "2012 GOP Lawmaker Endorsements for President," retrieved November 23, 2011
  8. ↑ U.S. House "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff" Accessed January 4, 2013.
  9. ↑ Indiana Secretary of State "2012 Primary Election Results," May 8, 2012
  10. ↑ Indiana Secretary of State - 2010 Republican Primary Election Results
  11. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010"
  12. ↑ Indiana Secretary of State - 2006 General Election Results
  13. ↑ Indiana Secretary of State - 2002 General Election Results
  14. ↑ Open Secrets "Todd Rokita" Accessed April 7, 2013
  15. ↑ Open Secrets "Todd Rokita 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed February 20, 2013
  16. ↑ Open Secrets "Todd Rokita 2010 Election Cycle," Accessed November 5, 2011
  17. ↑ "Indiana Exec Apologizes for Slavery Remark" Article
  18. ↑ GovTrack, "Todd Rokita," Accessed April 1, 2013
  19. ↑ LegiStorm "Todd Rokita"
  20. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Rokita (R-Ind), 2011"
  21. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Rokita, (R-Indiana), 2010"
  22. ↑ National Journal, "2012 Congressional Vote Ratings," February 28, 2013
  23. ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," February 23, 2012
  24. ↑ Open Congress "Voting With Party"
Political offices
Preceded by
Steve Buyer 		United States House of Representatives, District 4
2010–present 		Succeeded by
NA
Preceded by
Sue Anne Gilroy 		Indiana Secretary of State
2002–2010 		Succeeded by
Charlie White
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