INDIANAPOLIS | Republican Greg Zoeller led Democrat Linda Pence late Tuesday in an open race for state attorney general that carried Northwest Indiana undertones.

Zoeller, the chief deputy to outgoing Attorney General Steve Carter, courted region voters by vowing to carry public corruption fights initiated by his boss.

"The number-one priority has been to continue some of the good work that Attorney General Steve Carter has done," Zoeller said Tuesday night. "We really have made some great strides. People around the state appreciate the work that the attorney general's office does."

Zoeller repeatedly challenged Pence throughout the campaign to commit to continuing the 2004 civil lawsuit Carter filed against former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick. Pence said she would need to review the case before committing.

Pence, an Indianapolis trial lawyer, represented a paving firm that settled out of the lawsuit, which seeks to hold Pastrick and a pair of top aides financially responsible for a 1999 sidewalks-for-votes scheme that drained $24 million from East Chicago coffers.

Pence responded by criticizing state contracts Zoeller signed off on during the past eight years, including a 2005 deal that outsourced tort claims work to a law firm led by a former Carter deputy.

Pence pledged to investigate gasoline price gouging and child abuse and have the attorney general's office assume a greater role in complex local criminal cases. Zoeller said his Democratic opponent was exaggerating the role of the office, which does not have direct prosecutorial power.