11

By Marilyn Odendahl
The Indiana Lawyer
July 11, 2024

Destiny Wells raised the hopes of Hoosier Democrats during her 2022 run for Indiana Secretary of State that she could break the Republicans’ 32-year grip on that office.

She fell short, but captured 40.2% of the vote in her loss to current Secretary of State Diego Morales.

The race, Wells said, introduced her to a “team of professionals” who enabled her to outperform in counties critical to winning any statewide race. That same team has been reassembled and is now helping her run for Indiana attorney general.

“When I was approached to run, I thought very carefully about this race and knew it would be a race of national significance—and now that the national political commentators have swung this race from ‘safe Republican’ to ‘lean Republican,’ it’s imperative Indiana give its best shot at restoring integrity to the Office of Attorney General,” Wells said.

Wells will be competing against Beth White for the attorney general nomination during Saturday’s Indiana Democratic Party convention in Indianapolis. The candidate selected by party delegates will try to stop Republican incumbent Todd Rokita from winning a second term as attorney general in the November election.

A 2006 graduate of Indiana University – Bloomington, Wells earned her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 2011, according to her LinkedIn profile.  She has experience working in private practice in her hometown of Martinsville and serving as deputy attorney general when Curtis Hill served as the state’s chief legal officer and as an associate corporation counsel for the city of Indianapolis under Mayor Joe Hogsett.

At 19, Wells enlisted in the Army National Guard and is currently a U.S. Army Reserve lieutenant colonel. She was deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, from October 2016 to December 2017.

Wells took a pause from the race for the nomination to talk about the experience and skills she would bring to the attorney general’s office and the issues that would be at the top of her agenda.

• Why did you decide to run for attorney general?

Indiana has far too much to lose, much due to the aggressive posture Todd Rokita has taken with his constant thirst for national media attention. Hoosiers are entitled to accuracy and integrity from their Chief Legal Officer and my time in the office as a Deputy Attorney General showed me how much the office can suffer when leadership at the top is lacking due to ethical insolvency from its agency figurehead.

When I was approached to run, I thought very carefully about this race and knew it would be a race of national significance—and now that the national political commentators have swung this race from “safe Republican to “lean Republican,” it’s imperative Indiana give its best shot at restoring integrity to the Office of Attorney General and I’ve already hit the ground running.

• What skills or experience makes you qualified to be the attorney general?

My time as a Deputy Attorney General under Curtis Hill showed me how much work is lined up for me as Attorney General. The Office has seen an exodus of talented public servants, much due to Todd Rokita’s persistent use of the Office of the Attorney General for partisan gain. I plan to transform the office in order to better serve our attorneys, as they’ve currently been relegated to a role without proper professional development, without proper leadership opportunities, and without proper succession planning.

• What did you learn from your statewide run for Secretary of State that you are applying to your statewide race for AG?

In 2022, when I ran for Secretary of State, I found a team of professionals that allowed me to improve on election outcomes, which in turn allowed me to overperform in counties that are critical to a win in November. That same team immediately reestablished their roles when I announced my candidacy in November 2023 and remains engaged to tackle our race of national importance head-on.

• What will be your agenda as attorney general? What issues or functions will be the focus of your tenure?

Immediately upon taking office, I will form a team to support workers’ rights: Since the passage of the Right-to-Work in Indiana, no Attorney General has provided meaningful support to Indiana workers. We can follow the lead of states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Illinois in creating a team to investigate instances of worker abuse. The office could be doing much more to ensure employers treat workers with dignity and respect— preventing wage theft, labor trafficking, and the misclassification of employees. Additionally, the Office of the Attorney General will serve as a beachhead for Democrats as we look to even the playing field at the Statehouse and increase the number of Democrats serving in Indiana.

I will also assemble a Children’s Bill of Rights: My first experience practicing law was the shingle I put out in my hometown, showing me the underbelly of my Hoosier community for the first time. I witnessed young children who will be unrecoverably left behind because parents/guardians unenroll them from school without any basic standards or oversight. Some children enter adulthood without the essential tools to succeed and will require permanent state assistance. We must protect our kids and empower parents to ensure children receive sufficient education and are prepared to be members of our communities.

I will protect medical privacy: Public servants in the Indiana Department of Health and the Office of the Attorney General know that Rokita is constantly looking to meddle in the private records of Hoosiers. This activity serves as a chilling effect on Hoosiers seeking care and continues to cause health-care providers to leave Indiana. Health-care providers flee because they feel threatened and, most importantly, won’t be able to morally and ethically care for their patients.

Increase partnerships with local prosecutors: The Office of the Attorney General has repeatedly told local prosecutors they must comply, or else. We should use the Office of the Attorney General to partner with local prosecutors to protect the people and our Hoosier way of life, while providing autonomy (i.e., local control) for the community’s unique needs. When Hoosiers walk into my Attorney General’s Office, they won’t be able to tell whether a Democrat or Republican leads the office. Instead, Hoosiers will see exceptional attorneys and support staff standing ready to represent their clients.

• The past two attorneys general have been disciplined for misconduct by the Indiana Supreme Court. What will you do as AG to ensure that you and the office adhere to the highest standards of professional conduct and ethics?

We must act soon to restore Hoosiers’ trust in the Office of the Attorney General—these wounds will take time from which to recover and the entire legal community is looking for a restoration of integrity in the chief legal office for the state of Indiana.

• How are you planning to defeat Attorney General Todd Rokita in the November election?

Campaigns are always a sprint to meet the voter where they are. I think it’s clear that everyone knows I’m a spirited campaigner—there’s not a door I won’t knock or a phone I won’t call. On the morning of July 14^th, my schedule is already set to challenge donors to give to this race—one of only a handful in the nation for Attorneys General—and one where we can make a huge difference in the legal landscape that has reached a fever pitch with 2022’s Dobbs decision and the recent strikedown of the Chevron deference doctrine. I am ready to sprint to November and give Hoosiers an Attorney General with integrity, and one of which they can be proud.

The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.