Almost three dozen Republican Indiana state senators called on Sens. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) to oppose the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to lead the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel, The Indianapolis Star reported today.

Both Bayh and Lugar have said they would not oppose her nomination, but state Republicans wrote a letter asking them to reconsider because of Johnsen’s support of abortion rights.

“It’s a statement from a very strong pro-life caucus,” Republican Indiana Senate President Pro Tem David Long told The Star. “It is not based on the fact she is pro-choice, it is based on the fact that she is radically so.”

The Star reported that only two Indiana Republican senators did not sign the letter.

Thomas Perez said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this afternoon that he would keep politics out of his decisions if he is confirmed to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Democrats at the hearing criticized the Civil Rights Division for the politically-motivated hiring of career prosecutors that was orchestrated by Bradley Schlozman, a former acting head of the Civil Rights Division in the Bush administration. Perez, who held various positions within the Civil Rights Division in the 1990s, was praised by the Democrats at the hearing including Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who said Perez will help Attorney General Eric Holder “restore and reinvigorate the Justice Department.”

Thomas Perez, President Obama's pick to lead the DOJ Civil Rights Division, testified at a hearing on his nomination today.

“If confirmed, one of my primary goals will be to ensure that decision making is depoliticized,” Perez said. “I will work…to restore trust between the career attorneys and the political leadership.”

Perez, however, is not immune from criticism. An anti-gambling group is against his nomination because of a letter he wrote in his current job as the secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation that endorses the legalization of slot machine gambling, The Maryland Gazette reports.

“It gets down to the question if you’re going to be the leading advocate for civil rights in America, how does that square with your role as an advocate for state-sponsored predatory gambling,” Stop Slots Maryland executive director Les Bernal told The Gazette.

While the focus of the standing-room-only hearing was on Perez and circuit court nominees Andre Davis and David Hamilton, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) did point out at the beginning of the hearing that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was the ranking member at today’s hearing, not Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), who said yesterday that he will caucus with the Democrats.

A spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans did not immediately respond to questions regarding which senator is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

We previously reported that Specter, who was a no show at today’s hearing, could be in line to chair a new Judiciary subcommittee. Senate Judiciary Committee spokesperson Erica Chabot declined to comment on the report.

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said he will back the nomination of Dawn Johnsen, Obama’s pick to head the Office of Legal Counsel, The Journal Gazette reports.

Lugar is the first Republican to break from his party on Johnsen, a law professor at Indiana University. Leading Republicans including Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona have criticized Johnsen for her position on abortion rights and her strong disapproval of Bush administration legal memos used to justify torture against suspected terrorists.

We previously reported that Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) have said they will not vote in favor of her nomination. Democrats still need two Republican votes to have a filibuster-proof majority if the disputed Minnesota Senate race remains unresolved. These two votes could come from Moderate Maine Republicans Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, who have not said if they will support Johnsen.