Two of the state’s top Republicans found themselves in a rare position last week. They disagreed with one another.

Republican Senate President Pro Tem David Long criticized Secretary of State Todd Rokita for recommending changes in the way the maps designating the districts for state legislators and U.S. House members are drawn. Drawing the maps is the legislature’s job, Long said, and Rokita has no business developing his own proposed maps.

There was no similar criticism when Rokita pushed hard for a law requiring voters to produce IDs at the polls – also a decision only the legislature could make. The voter ID law hurts Democratic turnout. Rokita’s proposal to take politics out of the redistricting decisions could hurt Republicans as well as Democrats.

The secretary of state is often described as Indiana’s top election official. Whether you agree with him or not, the secretary of state has just as much right to suggest changes in redistricting as anyone else.

At a news conference, Rokita showed a video clip with Hoosiers describing the outlines of some of the legislative districts as a dragon, a dog and an alligator. No one mentioned “salamander,” the inspiration for the term “gerrymander,” which isn’t used as much as it was in the past but is an apt description for how Indiana’s legislative and congressional districts are drawn.

The legitimate question is whether Rokita should have spent more than $100,000 in taxpayer dollars on his own initiative.

The publicity-conscious Rokita could be taking a political risk in challenging fellow Republicans. Rokita has seemed to be running for higher office practically since the day he was first elected secretary of state in 2002. Term limits prohibit him from running again in 2010, and he can’t run for governor until 2012.

Unusual spotlight

Rokita isn’t the only elected state administrator with an active PR machine. Indeed, this marks the only time in recent memory when so many elected administrators outside the governor’s and lieutenant governor’s office are making news – and happy to tout that fact.

Treasurer Richard Mourdock has gained numerous headlines with his failed attempt to halt the Chrysler bankruptcy and his new efforts to change future such bankruptcies. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett is making waves – making decisions that effectively curtailed parent-teacher conferences and that will reduce the requirements to become a teacher. Attorney General Greg Zoeller is frequently in the news regarding consumer fraud.

The only elected state administrator not in the spotlight is former Allen County official Tim Berry, who seems to be running the state auditor’s office in a nonpartisan manner.

Mourdock and money

Speaking of Mourdock, the treasurer’s office wants to make clear that taxpayers are not footing the bill for his latest lawsuit challenging auto manufacturer bankruptcies. The private law firms representing his office are now working pro bono, his spokesman said. While the attorney general’s office also represents the treasurer, those lawyers are staff attorneys who would be paid salaries regardless of the newest case.