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Greg Zoeller
| Greg Zoeller | ||
 | ||
| Attorney General of Indiana | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| In office | ||
| 2008 - Present | ||
| Term ends | ||
| 2012 | ||
| Years in position | 5 | |
| Party | Republican | |
| Compensation | ||
| Base salary | $82,734 | |
| Elections and appointments | ||
| First elected | November 4, 2008 | |
| Next election | November 6, 2012 | |
| Term limits | N/A | |
| Education | ||
| J.D. | Indiana University School of Law (1982) | |
| Personal | ||
| Place of birth | New Albany, Indiana | |
| Religion | Catholic | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
| Personal website | ||
| Campaign website | ||
Contents |
Biography
Immediately upon receiving his law degree, Zoeller served as both the legislative and political counsel to then-Senator Dan Quayle. It was within this role that he managed five statewide offices in Washington, D.C. and Indiana. He was appointed as a special assistant to United States Attorney General Richard Thornburg in 1988. From 1989 to 1991, Zoeller served as an assistant to Vice President Dan Quayle within the White House. He was selected in 1992 to serve as Vice President of the Indiana Council of World Affairs onboard the United States delegation to NATO in Brussels, Belgium.
Zoeller assumed the roles of president and director of the World Trade Center of Indiana, a charitable organization whose mission is to attracted new industries or retain old ones within a given area. Beginning in 2001, he worked as the chief deputy to Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter, in addition to his role as chief of the litigation division and advisory services of the office. Within this capacity, he directed the overall administration of legal services provided by the state's attorney general.
In 1988, Zoeller received the Sagamore of the Wabash Award.
Education
- Juris Doctorate degree, Indiana University School of Law (1982)
Political career
Indiana Attorney General (2009-Present)
Zoeller narrowly defeated Democrat Linda Pence to win election as Indiana's 42nd Attorney General in the November 4, 2008 election.
Healthcare reform
 |
Using Indiana Code 4-6-8-2, which authorizes the state's attorney general to "make any reasonable or appropriate investigation or study of any such existing or proposed federal legislation whenever he is specifically requested so to do by any of this state's senators or representatives in congress and report the result thereof as requested," United States Senator Richard Lugar asked Zoeller to "conduct a legal analysis of the constitutionality of provisions of the federal healthcare bill" on January 5, 2010. [1] [2] The Indiana Attorney General had received similar inquiries from other congressmen, including Representatives Dan Burton and Mike Pence, at around the same time.
About a month later, Zoeller published a fifty-five page report on his findings. Based on the language of the Senate Amendment 2786 to the House Resolution 3590 - The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, he argued that the bill "would add roughly half a million more Hoosiers to the Medicaid rolls and create unintended consequences for patients, taxpayers and Indiana's medical-device industry." Not only would the federal legislation increase the state's Medicaid costs by $2.4 billion over ten years, but would also "divert pharmaceutical rebate savings from the states to the federal government, potentially resulting in a loss to Indiana of $750 million by 2019." Furthermore, the report states, the federal health care plan would ultimately spell the end for the Healthy Indiana Plan, which allows low-income state citizens to purchase state-run health coverage, while at the same time failing to achieve one of the legislation's major goals of reducing health care costs, as promised by Congress. [3]
On the same morning President Barack Obama signed into law his controversial health care reform measure, The Affordable Patient Protection Act of 2009, the one that narrowly passed the United States House of Representatives just two days before, Zoeller joined thirteen other State Attorneys General, all but one being Republican, in filing suit against "the federal government to stop the massive health care overhaul, claiming it's unconstitutional." [4] [5] The newly-elected Indiana Attorney General stated that he would "join in the most appropriate legal actions available to represent the significant interests of our state in this matter." [6]
Human-Trafficking
In February, 2012, Zoeller pushed successfully for legislative changes which are now in effect making it easier to prosecute traffickers and rescue victims.
Upon his election to the attorney general's office, Zoeller was tasked with developing ways to raise awareness about the human-trafficking industry and stifle its demand. As part of the nation-wide "Pillars of Hope" initiative, he founded the "Don't Buy the Lie" campaign that "aims to inform the public that purchasing sex is not a victimless crime and it fuels human trafficking." He serves as the co-chair of the Indiana Protection of Abused and Trafficked Humans (IPATH) task force. The task force has trained more than 2,000 people, ranging from law enforcement officers to hospitality workers, since the campaign launched in July, 2011.[7]
Super Bowl renter scam
Fulfilling his duty as attorney general to protect Indiana consumers, Zoeller filed a suit in Marion Superior Court against two Arizona-based home-rental companies accused of defrauding Indianapolis homeowners in preparation for the 2012 Super Bowl, which Indiana hosted. The companies offered services such as photographing and listing the homes of locals interested in renting to out-of-towners visiting for the game, and took consumers' payments exceeding $5,000 in some cases, promising refunds for those whose homes did not get rented out. The scam yielded almost $30,000 in total losses, according to the 21 complaints registered with the attorney general's office.[8] "Although the Super Bowl brought positive attention and business to Indianapolis, it also brought in scammers who intended to deceive and take financial advantage of consumers," Zoeller explained after filing the lawsuits on March 1, 2012.[8]
Poverty
Since 2009, Zoeller has orchestrated an annual program aimed at reversing the post-holiday season dry up of food donations to banks and drives to help the hungry. The March Against Hunger for food drive charges all law firms in Indiana and in adjacent states' metropolitan areas to donate as food and money to Indiana's 11 regional food banks, which. In 2011, 50 law firms in Indiana Ohio and Kentucky donated more than 6,000 pounds of food and raised $27,574. Owing in part to the recession, the poverty rate in the region is alarmingly high, with about one in six Indiana residents at risk of hunger.[9] In 2012, Attorney General of Ohio Mike DeWine joined the effort.[10]
Elections
2012
- See also: Indiana attorney general election, 2012
Zoeller is running unopposed for re-election in 2012.
2008
- 2008 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary
- Greg Zoeller ran unopposed in this contest
| 2008 Race for Attorney General - General Election [11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party |  Greg Zoeller
|
50.7% | |
| Democratic Party | Linda Pence | 49.3% | |
| Total Votes | 2,597,431 | ||
Campaign donors
Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of Greg Zoeller's donors each year.[12] Click [show] for more information.
| Greg Zoeller's Campaign Contributions | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Indiana Attorney General | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total Raised | $1,250,276 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total Raised by General Election Opponent | $1,440,427 (Dem.) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Top 5 contributors | Indiana Republican Party | $611,485 | |||||||||||||||||
| Steve Carter for Attorney General | $71,650 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nineteen PAC | $37,482 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Northeast Indiana for Better Government | $17,500 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Vision Concepts | $12,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Individuals | $298,136 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Institutions | $261,154 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In-state donations | $1,172,405 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Out-of-state donations | $74,500 | ||||||||||||||||||
Personal
Zoeller currently resides in Indiana with his wife, Kerrie Turner, and their three children - Gretchen, Katherine, and Michael. He is also a practicing member of Christ the King Catholic Church.
Contact information
Capitol Address:
Office of Indiana State Attorney General
Indiana Government Center South
302 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: (317) 232-6201
Fax: (317) 232-7979
E-mail: Constituent@atg.in.gov
See also
- Indiana Attorney General
- Attorney General
- Governor of Indiana
- Lieutenant Governor of Indiana
- Indiana Secretary of State
- Indiana attorney general election, 2012
External links
- Official Indiana Attorney General website
- Greg Zoeller's Facebook profile
- Greg Zoeller's Twitter account
- Greg Zoeller for Indiana Attorney General Campaign website
- Project Vote Smart - Greg Zoeller biography
- Indiana Attorney General YouTube channel
- Campaign contributions: 2010, 2008
References
- ↑ Find Law - Ind. Code § 4-6-8-2 : Indiana Code - Section 4-6-8-2: Reports; senators or representatives in congress
- ↑ The Hoosier Pundit "Greg Zoeller to Review Constitutionality of ObamaCare" 7 Jan. 2010
- ↑ The Hoosier Pundit "Zoeller Issues Report on ObamaCare" 6 Feb. 2010
- ↑ Associated Press "13 attorneys general sue over health care overhaul" 23 March, 2010
- ↑ The Indianapolis Star "Indiana joins 13 states to challenge health reform" 30 March, 2010
- ↑ The Hoosier Pundit' "Zoeller Readies Legal Challenge to ObamaCare" 23 March, 2010
- ↑ Office Press Release, "AG Zoeller: Spotlight on Super Bowl, national efforts to fight human trafficking," February 4, 2012
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 general?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|IndyStar.com IndyStar, "SuperBowl 2012 home rental companies sued by Zoeller," March 1, 2012
- ↑ Evansville Courier & Press, "Post holiday help for local food-banks," February 21, 2012
- ↑ FOX19.com, Attorneys General Zoeller and DeWine team up for March Against Hunger," February 27, 2012
- ↑ Indiana Secretary of State - 2008 General Election Results
- ↑ Follow the Money.org
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Steve Carter |
Indiana Attorney General 2009–present |
Succeeded by NA |
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