Greg Zoeller

Gregory Francis Zoeller (born March 28, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 42nd attorney general of the U.S. state of Indiana from 2009 to 2017. A Republican, he was elected in November 2008, defeating Democrat Linda Pence, and took office on January 12, 2009, and was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2012. He retired to run unsuccessfully for Congress.

Early life and education Zoeller is a native of New Albany, Indiana. He graduated from Providence High School. He earned an undergraduate degree in computer science from Purdue University and a J.D. degree from Indiana University.

Legal and political career For decades, Zoeller was known as an "unwavering conservative Hoosier Republican." He was a staffer for Dan Quayle, joining Quayle's U.S. Senate staff in 1983 and remained an aide to Quayle during his vice presidency, with the title of Assistant to the Vice President and Director of Public Liaison. He left Quayle's staff in 1991 to join a private law practice in Indianapolis. He was chief deputy in the office Zoeller also joined lawsuits challenging Obama administration EPA environmental protection regulation, including a water pollution rule and the Clean Power Plan.

In 2013, Zoeller signed onto an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case of Town of Greece v. Galloway, arguing that the Court should allow prayer "before legislative bodies without requiring legislative leaders to screen prayers for sectarian references."

In 2014, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that Indiana's same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional, Zoeller filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, saying that the Court needed to give "a final, unambiguous and conclusive answer ... on the legal authority of states to license marriages." While some criticized Zoeller for appealing, Zoeller argued that he was duty-bound to defend the constitutionality of state laws in court as part of the adversarial system.

In 2014, as the Supreme Court was considering the cases of Hollingsworth v. Perry and United States v. Windsor, Zoeller's office filed amicus briefs in support of the position that states had the right not to recognize same-sex marriage. After the Supreme Court issued its decisions in favor of the LGBT plaintiffs, Zoeller issued a statement saying: "While my office is duty bound to defend the authority of our state legislature and their decisions, I recognize that people have strongly held and vastly different views on the issue of marriage and ask that everyone show respect with civility to our Supreme Court and our constitutional system. Regardless of the different views people may hold, marriage should be a source of unity and not division." He made plans to teach part-time at a law school, work as a mediator, and pursue business endeavors, adding, "I don't know if I fit today's political arena." He remains a Republican in state and local politics.

Electoral history