Meanwhile, Holcomb’s opponent Democrat John Gregg has a campaign stop Wednesday. Brooks touted the endorsement of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who Trump also considered as a vice presidential nominee before opting for Pence.
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Mike Pence was facing a stiff test in the November election as he faced re-election, but now that he’s been tapped as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate, that fight has been handed over to another candidate.
Add to that a Lieutenant Governor who a late entry into the governor’s race – and will have intense campaigning duties in the coming months- we wondered who exactly is governing the state.
On social issues, which have been an overriding concern for Pence – often to his political detriment – Holcomb indicated he’s satisfied with the state’s current balance between religious liberty and its limited anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Hoosiers.
“We’ve got work to do and a short time to get there, so let me just say how honored and gratified I am”, said Holcomb, after a second round of voting gave him the majority he needed to claim victory. And Holcomb pressed his case over the weekend, arguing he had been promised assistance from Pence’s more than $7 million campaign fund, which he said was “something no other candidate in this race can boast”.
Lt. Governor Eric Holcomb is the Republican candidate for governor. Both members will have some work to do to get their names back on the ballot in their 4th and 5th districts, respectively.
“For too many Hoosier families, wages aren’t keeping up and the good paying jobs we are losing aren’t being replaced”, Gregg says. “My economic plan sets our state on a new path forward, one that puts jobs and the middle class first”. Both of those planks of his conservative social agenda led to national characterizations of IN as a place that wanted to restrict the rights of people not part of the white, male power structure.
It was Holcomb who pushed Daniels, a policy wonk, to travel to small towns and into popular eateries, like the Cone Palace in Kokomo, said Howard County Republican Chairman Craig Dunn. So, Republicans must nominate candidates to replace all three vacancies on the November ballot.
Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb was selected by the Indiana Republican Party on Tuesday to replace Pence, who was plucked to be Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee. Gregg held the top House position of speaker from 1997 through 2002, a time when Democrats controlled the House and governor’s office and Republicans dominated the state Senate.
Pence and several other top Republican officials and donors have endorsed Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb for the nomination.
“We cannot, cannot, allow our state to slip and drift and go backwards to those days of debt and delayed payments to schools or unfunding important, critical infrastructure projects across the state of IN”.
“We will continue to right-size our tax code, invest in education and infrastructure”. He even lost a run for a seat in the statehouse in his hometown of Vincennes.
“This race was never about running against Mike Pence”. It is a lot easier to capture an open seat than it is to unseat an incumbent.
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Pence’s governorship has been a turbulent one that has both alienated and energized significant pockets of Hoosier voters. Party leaders are now scheduled to meet Monday to name a new candidate for lieutenant governor.
