INDIANAPOLIS | The battle for the north has begun in the Republican race for Indiana attorney general.

Greg Zoeller, a southern Indiana native, spent Friday wooing Lake County delegates who will help decide the GOP nomination at the state party convention in June.

Zoeller, the chief deputy to Attorney General Steve Carter since 2001, said he already has locked up support from delegates in LaPorte and Jasper counties.

"I'm going to pound Lake County until every one of the delegates has met me or talked to me," Zoeller said. "I may not be from Lake County, but they can count on me to continue the reforms started by Steve Carter."

Zoeller vowed to continue efforts to tackle vote fraud, open the books of an embattled East Chicago development group and take up Carter's civil racketeering lawsuit against former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick.

Zoeller said his time as an aide to former Vice President Dan Quayle has afforded him a strong fundraising network for what he assumes will be a $1 million fall race against the likely Democratic nominee Linda Pence. Zoeller officially filed his candidacy with the state GOP this week and paid the $8,000 convention slating fee.

Costas said he will take those steps shortly, and he plans to announce a list of endorsements next week. He argues his candidacy for attorney general would bring balance to a Republican ticket expected to feature Gov. Mitch Daniels and southern Indiana candidates for lieutenant governor and state schools superintendent.

"The party leaders in the north understand how vital it is to have somebody who's from the north on the ticket," Costas said. "It's even more significant now due to the fact that (Democrat) Jill Long Thompson is the candidate (for governor) because she won due to her support in the north."