Local attorney to challenge Hill for Republican AG nomination

An Indianapolis attorney with Bose McKinney & Evans LLP will challenge Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill for the Republican nomination to become Indiana’s top lawyer.

John M. Westercamp will officially announce his candidacy for the GOP nomination at events Thursday across Indiana, according to a media advisory released Monday.

John Westercamp

Westercamp, of Zionsville, practices in Bose’s business services, economic development and incentives, and real estate groups, and he also works on the firm’s Data Breach Response Team, according to his law firm biography. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and economic development agreements.

Westercamp has also advised Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma on legal matters, according to the firm, and was a member of the Young Professionals Coalition for Gov. Eric Holcomb’s campaign in 2016.

The attorney is an alumnus of the Purdue University Krannert School of Management, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 2010 and 2012, respectively, and Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where he earned his law degree in 2014.

Prior to joining Bose’s Indianapolis office, Westercamp was a legal extern for Indiana Northern District Judge Jon DeGuilio and a summer law clerk for Indiana Supreme Court Justice Steven David and Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Melissa May.

Westercamp and his supporters will officially announce his intent to seek the Republican nomination at four public events Thursday, including stops in Indianapolis, Elkhart, Fort Wayne and Evansville. The Indianapolis event will be held at 9:30 a.m. at Bose’s downtown office, 111 Monument Circle, Suite 2700.

Rather than selecting candidates for attorney general through primary elections, Indiana political parties select their respective AG nominees at party conventions. State Republicans will select their candidate for attorney general during the Indiana Republican State Convention in early 2020.

Westercamp is the first candidate to challenge Hill, the incumbent Republican AG, and his selection as the GOP’s nominee would require the Indiana Republican Party to choose not to allow Hill to seek a second term on the GOP ballot.

Hill has been under fire for roughly the last year after allegations that he drunkenly groped four women at a party in March 2018 came to light in July 2018. Hill has denied the allegations and has not been criminally or ethically charged, though he is now facing an attorney disciplinary action and a civil lawsuit stemming for the accusations.

In the wake of the groping allegations, both Republicans and Democrats, including Republican leaders Gov. Eric Holcomb, Bosma and then-Senate President Pro Tem David Long, called on Hill to resign. He has so far resisted those calls.