Gov. Eric Holcomb talks about being named to replace Gov. Mike Pence as the Republican candidate for governor following his withdrawal to become Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate as Rep. Susan Brooks, center, R-Ind., and Rep. Todd Rokita, right, R-Ind., look on during an announcement in Indianapolis, Tuesday, July 26, 2016.
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That candidate will be Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb, following a vote by the state’s Republican Central Committee on Tuesday afternoon.
That’s when Holcomb accepted Pence’s invitation and by doing so aligned himself with the unpopular positions that are big targets for Gregg and the Democratic Party. “The only way that we continue Indiana’s progress is by joining together”.
State Senator Jim Tomes of Evansville was the fourth candidate who sought the nomination.
Holcomb, a 48-year-old former state Republican chairman who has never been elected to office, was only recently appointed lieutenant governor after Pence’s prior running mate stepped down in March. Susan Brooks and Todd Rokita. Dan Coats. And when Coats announced he wouldn’t run for re-election this year, Holcomb launched a short-lived Senate campaign – one hobbled by anemic fundraising – before dropping out and accepting Pence’s offer to become lieutenant governor.
Either way, Holcomb will have to quickly ramp up a statewide campaign to build his name identification and spread an agenda that is likely to hew closely to Pence’s positions. Gregg’s campaign had largely shaped up as a referendum on Pence’s four years in office, which has faced troubles including last year’s national uproar over the state’s religious objections law that opponents maintained allowed business to refuse services to gays and lesbians.
“I’m still John Gregg and I’m the only one who’s running for governor who has been running for governor”.
Apparently they couldn’t see that’s what Gregg and the Democrats had to want, too.
“Hoosiers should be proud to have Eric Holcomb as their Republican choice for governor this fall”, Young said in a statement. All of the candidates that are being mentioned (to replace Pence) take the same approach to job creation, social issues, public education as he did. “It’s been an honor to do both”, said Holcomb.
But a few days ago he told The Journal Gazette that he supports “the current balance that we have right now with the local ordinance process and the state’s constitution protecting our individual liberties”.
Republican Party rules gave each of the candidates three minutes to speak before the state committee.
As former state GOP chairman, he had close ties with a lot of the party insiders voting in the caucus.
And according to a member of the committee, who asked not to be identified, the race is down to a toss-up between Brooks, the early frontrunner, and Holcomb, who received a huge boost on Friday thanks to an endorsement from Pence himself.
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“Eric is a man of great integrity who loves the people of our state”, Pence said in a statement.
