MERRILLVILLE | Democratic state attorney general candidate Linda Pence said Northwest Indiana has long been ignored and needs an attorney general who will focus energy in the area.

During a campaign stop in Merrillville Friday, the Indianapolis attorney said the high number of foreclosures in the state has made Indiana ripe for criminals to prey on residents in desperate financial situations. She said the attorney general's office can do more to protect Hoosiers.

"Fighting for Hoosiers is something that I know how to do," Pence said.

Pence spoke at the Indiana State Fraternal Order of Police's annual state conference Friday at the Radisson Hotel and also met with steelworkers Thursday at U.S. Steel in Gary.

Pence said she has practiced law for 34 years and is best known for securing a more than $10 million civil settlement against Guide Corp., an Anderson, Ind., auto part company responsible for White River pollution releases that killed 117 tons of fish in December 1999.

While announcing her candidacy last week, Pence said if elected she would need to conduct an extensive review before she would decide whether to continue the office's civil racketeering case against former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick. Pence represented Rieth-Riley, a paving company that was sued as part of that case. The company paid $625,000 to settle claims it helped city officials conspire to divert more than $24 million in public money to a 1999 sidewalks-for-votes scheme.

On Friday, Pence said if the evidence is there, she will continue the case.

"I will be looking at any and every case involving public corruption, not just in Lake County but in the 91 other counties as well," Pence said.

Pence faces Republic candidate and Deputy Attorney General Greg Zoeller in the fall general election.