Mourdock not ruling out another run for office

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock says he hasn’t ruled out another run for political office — something he said he considered after his loss for a U.S. Senate seat.

Mourdock, a Republican, lost to Democrat Joe Donnelly in the race for Republican Sen. Richard Lugar’s seat after coming under criticism for his comment during an Oct. 23 debate that pregnancy resulting from rape is “something God intended.” At an event in Evansville on Friday night, Mourdock said he has recovered mentally and physically from his loss to Donnelly and would consider another run for office, the Evansville Courier & Press reported.

Mourdock did not say what office he might run for, but he said he’s ready to move past his crushing defeat. Donnelly’s win in November helped Democrats build a 55-45 seat advantage in the Senate.

“I’ll be honest: This one was very difficult to lose,” said Mourdock, who was in Evansville for the Vanderburgh County GOP Lincoln Day dinner.

During the event, many Republicans cast Mourdock as a good man who paid an extraordinarily high price for a poor choice of words. Some blamed what they called a hostile news media, repeating what Mourdock’s campaign finance director Ashlee Walls wrote in an email to supporters in December. She said the Republican Senate candidate was “caught in the liberal media cross hairs.” Mourdock refused to apologize for the remark, and Democrats spent heavily for ads repeating it for voters.

It was Mourdock’s third GOP Lincoln Day dinner of the week, and three more are planned.

Vanderburgh County GOP Chairman Wayne Parke said Mourdock’s loss was heartbreaking, calling it “a five-second thing.”

Asked about the comment he made regarding pregnancy and rape, Mourdock said: “I made my statement that night and clarified as many times as I possibly can. I believe God is the author of life and certainly I want life respected.”

Mourdock, who has two years left in his term as treasurer, said he won’t shrink from the scene no matter what happens in the future.

“I’m going to find a way to have my voice heard,” he said.