Todd Rokita

Todd Rokita
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Steve Buyer
59th Secretary of State of Indiana
In office December 1, 2002 – December 1, 2010
Governor	Frank O'Bannon Joe Kernan Mitch Daniels
Preceded by	Sue Anne Gilroy
Succeeded by	Charlie White
Personal details
Born	Theodore E. Rokita (1970-02-09) February 9, 1970 Chicago, Illinois
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Kathy Rokita
Children	Teddy Rokita, Ryan Rokita
Residence	Indianapolis, Indiana
Alma mater	Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Wabash College
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	Official website

Theodore Edward "Todd" Rokita (born February 9, 1970) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Indiana's 4th congressional district since 2011. Rokita, a member of the Republican Party, previously served as Secretary of State of Indiana from 2002 to 2010. When Rokita was elected to office in 2002 at the age of 32, he became at the time the youngest secretary of state in the United States.

Early life, education and career

Rokita grew up in Munster, located in Lake County in Northwest Indiana. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he was an Eli Lilly Fellow. He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He has a law degree from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

Rokita was a practicing attorney. In 1997 he joined the secretary of state's office as general counsel. He later became deputy secretary of state.

Indiana Secretary of State

Rokita was elected by his peers nationally to serve on the nine-member federal executive board of the Election Assistance Commission. The commission is charged by law to address election reform issues on a nation-wide basis. Rokita has testified about Indiana's voting reform efforts before the United States Congress.

Rokita was a named defendant in the Hoosier State's voter identification case went before the U.S. Supreme Court on January 9, 2008; the combined cases of Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (07-21) and Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita (07-25) involved the Indiana voting requirement laws that require voters display state-issued photo IDs before voting. In April 2008, the US Supreme Court upheld that law. Rokita also served as Indiana's chief securities fraud investigator. Rokita's office has closed hundreds of enforcement actions against violators of securities law, uncovered investor fraud scams, and helped secure numerous felony convictions and millions of dollars in restitution.

As secretary of state, Rokita visited each of Indiana's ninety-two counties at least once per year. Rokita was named as one of the "40 under 40" by the Indianapolis Business Journal. Rokita was active in the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), and after serving as the elected treasurer, he became the President for the 2007-2008 term.

In September 2009, Rokita outlined a plan to reform how Indiana's legislative districts are drawn to reduce gerrymandering. He proposed making it a felony for lawmakers to use political data or incumbents' addresses when drawing electoral maps. Indiana's congressional districts and districts for the Indiana Senate and Indiana House of Representatives will next be redrawn after the 2010 Census. Rokita says boundaries should follow existing county and township lines, and that each of the 50 senate districts should be divided into two house districts, claiming this will lead to more competitive legislative elections.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Committee on the Budget
• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
  • Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
• Committee on House Administration
  • Subcommittee on Elections
  • Subcommittee on Oversight

Controversies

In April 2007, Rokita was speaking at a Republican event, and encouraged Republicans to reach out to African Americans. He mentioned 90 percent of African Americans vote Democratic, after which he asked, "How can that be? Ninety to 10. Who's the master and who's the slave in that relationship? How can that be healthy?" Four days after making those remarks, he apologized. Rokita also met privately with eleven members of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus to apologize for the comment. Representative Vernon Smith, D-Gary, told reporters, “He apologized to our satisfaction. We do believe he was sincere in his apology," Smith said. "I think there are greater issues — education, health, economics for the black community — that are more important than us spending all this time on a slip of the lip. I do believe that we all make mistakes (and) that if we expect to be forgiven, we need to forgive."

Political campaigns

2010

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana, 2010#District 4

On February 1, 2010, three days after Congressman Steve Buyer of Indiana's 4th congressional district said that he would retire at the end of his term, Rokita posted an announcement on Facebook making clear his intentions to run for the open seat.

Buyer's announcement touched off a free-for-all among area Republicans to succeed him. Ultimately, thirteen candidates entered the Republican primary, including Rokita. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+14, the 4th is one of the most Republican districts in the Eastern Time Zone and tied for the second-most Republican in the state (behind the 5th District). It was taken for granted that whoever won the primary would be heavily favored to be the district's next congressman.

Rokita won the primary with 42 percent of the vote, and went on to win the general election with 68.6% of the vote.

Tenure

Agriculture

Rokita is against federal government regulation over farming. A representative of a heavy-farming district in Indiana, Rokita has voted in favor of deregulating farmer restrictions, earning him an "A" rating from the American Farm Bureau Federation. He co-sponsored the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act- passing the house in March 2011- in order to prevent the "significant burden on small businesses for little obvious environmental benefit." Rokita also co-sponsored the Preserving America's Family Farms Act- which passed the House in July 2012- citing Indiana's dependence on youth work on family farms.

Health Care

Rokita opposes any Health Care regulation that increases the national debt, earning a hign "B" rating by the National Taxpayers Union 2011 Positions on Tax and Spending. He opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and was the key vote to "repeal the job-killing health care law and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010." Unsurprisingly, his healthcare voting record has given him an extremely low approval ratings from care-related interest groups such as the Association of University Centers on Disabilities and the American Nurses Association.

Gun Control

Rokita is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, saying "I’m proud of my 'A' rating from the NRA. If we are going to keep up our traditions and pass them on to our children, we need leaders in Congress who understand, and will fight every day, to protect our 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms." Rokita voted in favor of a bill "Requiring State Reciprocity for Carrying Concealed Firearms" in November 2011.

Personal life

Rokita is a member of the Director's Circle of the Indiana Council for Economic Education, the state bar association, the Knights of Columbus, and the National Rifle Association. A commercial-rated pilot, Rokita volunteers his time by flying people in need of non-emergency medical care to hospitals and clinics throughout the Midwest for treatment and is a member of the Indiana chapter of the International Flying Farmers. Rokita has also served as Chair of NASS's New Millennium Young Voters Summit of 2004, chair of the standing Voter Participation Committee and vice chair of the Securities Regulation Committee.

External links

• Congressman Todd Rokita official U.S. House site
• Todd Rokita for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Profile at Ballotpedia
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Financial information (federal office) at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance (federal office) at LegiStorm.com
• Financial information (state office) at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Voting record at The Washington Post
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The Washington Post

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Steve Buyer	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 4th congressional district January 3, 2011 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Martha Roby R-Alabama	United States Representatives by seniority 334th	Succeeded by Dennis Ross R-Florida
Political offices
Preceded by Sue Anne Gilroy	59th Secretary of State of Indiana 2002 – 2010	Succeeded by Charlie White