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Democrat Destiny Wells launches bid for Indiana attorney general

Lauren Chapman

Democrat Destiny Wells announced Monday she is running for Indiana attorney general next year.

Medical privacy, workers’ rights and ethics are the three areas Wells focused on in her campaign launch.

Current Attorney General Todd Rokita has aggressively pursued health care providers over abortion and gender-affirming care, and Rokita recently became the second consecutive attorney general to be sanctioned by the Indiana Supreme Court.

Wells, a former deputy attorney general and military veteran, said the office has fallen short of what Hoosiers need.

“And that we are not using the office simply as a platform for national talking points,” Wells said. “We want to get back to serving Hoosiers.”

Wells said for this campaign, she will build on the statewide network she established last year in an unsuccessful bid for secretary of state. She said she’ll focus on reaching voters who cast Republican straight ticket ballots and have to spend a lot of time fundraising.

“I have to spend a lot of money to meet people at their nose, basically,” Wells said. “That is just the reality of where our electorate is and how engaged they are.”

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Democrats haven’t won a race for attorney general since 1996.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Copyright 2023 IPB News. To see more, visit .

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.