Top Republicans enter governor's race after Pence joins Trump

INDIANAPOLIS — With Gov. Mike Pence out of the gubernatorial race and on the GOP presidential ticket, several top Republicans scrambled to enter the race before a Friday deadline.

Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb, U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks and U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita dropped out of their races Friday for the chance to run as the Republican candidate for governor.

U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita addresses the media at the Statehouse on Friday. Rokita entered the gubernatorial race along with U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks and Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb after Gov. Mike Pence accepted Donald Trump's running mate offer. Photo by Jackson Hughes, TheStatehouseFile.com

U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita addresses the media at the Statehouse on Friday. Rokita entered the gubernatorial race along with U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks and Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb after Gov. Mike Pence accepted Donald Trump’s running mate offer. Photo by Jackson Hughes, TheStatehouseFile.com

Rep. Susan Brooks

Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb addresses the media at the Statehouse on Friday. Holcomb entered the gubernatorial race along with U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks and U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita after Gov. Mike Pence accepted Donald Trump's running mate offer. Photo by Jackson Hughes, TheStatehouseFile.com

Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb addresses the media at the Statehouse on Friday. Holcomb entered the gubernatorial race along with U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks and U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita after Gov. Mike Pence accepted Donald Trump’s running mate offer. Photo by Jackson Hughes, TheStatehouseFile.com

 

Election law states candidates are only allowed to be listed on the ballot once. So Holcomb, Brooks and Rokita had to withdraw from their races before the ballot deadline of noon Friday. Pence submitted paperwork to remove his name from ballot around 11 a.m. Friday, giving those candidates less than an hour to pull their names off of the ballot.

However, if a person interested in running for governor is not currently up for re-election or holding office, they have 72 hours prior to the state committee meeting to file.

The Indiana Republican Party’s central committee has 30 days to select a replacement candidate who will challenge Democrat John Gregg for governor this November.

Before Pence even dropped out of the race, there was speculation about who would want to replace Pence’s position as the GOP nominee for governor.

House Speaker Brian Bosma was amongst the Indiana leaders whose name was brought up to take over the position, but said he wants to continuously commit to the hard work of continuing Indiana’s success.

“While I sincerely appreciate the many calls I have received encouraging me to be a candidate for governor, I will not seek our party’s nomination through the process available to our state party leaders at this late date,” Bosma said in a statement.

There also was word of Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke running for governor, but he announced he has no intention of running.

“I am honored by all of the encouragement to run for governor, but have no plans on entering the caucus,” Winnecke wrote in a tweet. “I am proud of the shining example that Evansville has become for our great state [and] look forward to working closely [with our] next Governor.”

 

Former Governor Mitch Daniels has told media outlets that he is not planning to run for re-election.

As for those who are running, they’re preparing to try to win over the committee selecting Pence’s replacement.

“I think Hoosiers represent the best of human spirit in the nation and as governor of the state of Indiana, I intend to communicate that message to the rest of the world,” Rokita said.

Holcomb said he felt encouraged by the amount of people who reached out to him, asking him to run.

“I will focus on the campaign I am going to run,” Holcomb said. “I will focus on the differences that I will bring as a candidate running for governor.”

 

Article writers Adrianna Pitrelli, Jackson Hughes and Dustin Beach are reporters for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.