INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Hundreds of Republicans rallied at their state convention Monday, uniting behind Gov. Mitch Daniels' re-election bid and choosing Greg Zoeller over Jon Costas as their nominee for attorney general.

Zoeller, chief deputy to outgoing Attorney General Steve Carter, received 1,061 votes, or 60 percent, to 707 votes for Costas. Zoeller's victory came despite Daniels having endorsed Costas, the mayor of Valparaiso in northwest Indiana.

Daniels had said previously and reiterated after the convention that he thought Costas would bring more geographic balance to the statewide Republican ticket. He also repeated that he greatly admired both Zoeller and Costas.

"Greg earned it. He went out and got out early and got a lot of support and locked it up," Daniels said. "I'm glad we had a spirited election, something to get people excited about."

It was the only contested race during the day. Delegates also nominated Greater Clark County Schools Superintendent Tony Bennett for state school superintendent and re-nominated Becky Skillman for lieutenant governor.

Zoeller, who is from New Albany in southern Indiana, spent several years as an aide to Dan Quayle when he was a U.S. senator and later vice president. He joined Carter's office in 2001 and became his chief deputy in 2004.

He emphasized his experience in the attorney general's office during the race, and said he and his supporters ran a grass roots campaign and talked to nearly 500 delegates. His backers included Carter, who is not seeking a third term.

"They want to see whether you're going to be a good candidate and going door-to-door is what they're familiar with, so we literally went door-to-door," Zoeller said. He will likely face Democrat Linda Pence, an Indianapolis attorney, in the fall.

Pence is expected to be nominated by Democrats at their state convention on June 21.

Bennett, whose school district is the largest of three in Clark County near Louisville, Ky., was unopposed in his bid for the GOP nomination for state school superintendent. Current superintendent Suellen Reed is not seeking a fifth consecutive term.

Bennett said that if elected, his vision was to bring education in Indiana "back to the basics." He said that meant returning discipline to the classroom, steering more dollars directly to learning, and attracting and retaining qualified teachers and paying them well.

Former lieutenant governor John Mutz said Bennett has a history in education as a teacher and administrator and would work well with Daniels.

"You might even say he will sing from the same song sheet that Mitch Daniels uses," Mutz said.

No Democrats have yet filed for their party's nomination for school superintendent.

Candidates for governor in the Republican and Democratic parties are chosen in the May primary, and Daniels was unopposed in his bid for a second term. Jill Long Thompson defeated Jim Schellinger in the Democratic primary and will face Daniels in the November election.

Daniels used part of his keynote speech to tout what he considered accomplishments of his first term.

He said they included embracing change, improving the economy, balancing the state budget after years of deficits, acting on an ambitious highway construction plan, reducing the number of child deaths and enacting a major property tax relief and restructuring plan.

"Did you think you would hear your state as an oasis, as an island of growth?" Daniels said. "You were the core for a movement of reform."

Daniels ended his comments by telling Republicans to be positive during the campaign. But he took some verbal jabs at Democrats earlier.

"The direction they seek is reverse and there's nothing new about that," he said. "They are like a bad satellite radio station — all negative all the time. The only jobs plan they've got is to give back the government jobs they love so much."

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, urged delegates to help Republicans regain the House from Democrats, suggesting strongly that they lacked vision. Democrats control the chamber 51-49, with all 100 seats on the November ballot.

Former state GOP Chairman Mike McDaniel said the contested attorney general's race made the convention more exciting.

"Sometimes you wish you would pass on that kind of excitement, but it does generate interest, and after having a primary with a Democratic circus traveling all over the state ... it's nice to get back and focus on the task at hand," he said.

State Democrats issued a release after the convention saying that Daniels had hand-picked Costas for the AG nomination, and his loss by a wide margin was a "startling rebuke of the Daniels political machine."

"The defeat of Mitch Daniels today showed that this governor lacks popular support, even within his own party," said state Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker.

Daniels had already dismissed any such criticism from Democrats, saying if Costas had won, they would have called Daniels "power crazy."