Rokita files for reelection. But here's why he won't be on the May primary ballot.

Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita officially filed for reelection with the state party on Wednesday, but he won't be on the primary ballot come May 7.

That's because political insiders from the two major parties select their nominees for attorney general at their respective state party conventions. The 2024 Indiana GOP State Convention will be held June 14-15 and the Democratic convention will be on July 13. Whomever wins either convention vote will be on the November general election ballot.

“We have had tremendous success in the Attorney General’s office but there is more work to do," Rokita said in a statement after he filed for reelection. "We must continue standing up for Hoosier’s rights and liberties, defend our citizens from criminals who wish to be set free, protect consumers, and challenge President Biden and his allies who want open borders, job-killing red tape, and extreme woke ideology in our classrooms."

So far, Rokita is the only Republican who has filed to run. The deadline to file for the Republican convention is May 16.

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Two Democratic candidates have announced they plan to run for attorney general. Destiny Wells, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully in an unusually high-profile secretary of state race in 2022, jumped into the race in November. Beth White, an attorney and the president and CEO of the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking, announced she was running in January.

Rokita's tenure as attorney general hasn't been without controversy. The Indiana Supreme Court publicly reprimanded Rokita last year for calling Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist Caitlin Bernard an "abortion activist acting as a doctor — with a history of failing to report" on Fox News after she performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio. He now faces a new Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission investigation due to his comments following the public reprimand.

Still, he's well positioned financially. As of the close of 2023, Rokita had more than $1 million cash on hand in his campaign coffers.

Contact IndyStar government and politics editor Kaitlin Lange at [email protected] or follow her on X @Kaitlin_Lange.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Rokita files for reelection. But he won't be on the primary ballot.