Setting the Stage for the 2024 Indiana Gubernatorial Primary

December 15, 2022

Setting the Stage for the 2024 Indiana Gubernatorial Primary

Several candidates are gunning for the Republican nomination in the May 2024 gubernatorial primary in hopes of extending the GOP’s 20-year-hold on the governor’s office. Governor Eric Holcomb cannot seek reelection because of term limits. Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, Holcomb’s running mate in 2016 and 2020, formally started her 2024 campaign for governor on December12th. Crouch is joining U.S. Senator Mike Braun, who filed paperwork on Nov. 30 for the governor’s race. Braun’s move ends his time in the U.S. Senate. His term is set to expire in 2024. Braun, 68, defeated Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly for the Senate seat in 2018. His business, Meyer Distributing, has been an NFIB member since 1972. Lt. Gov. Crouch, 70, said her campaign to become Indiana’s first female governor would highlight her decade as a local government official in Evansville before joining the state Legislature in 2005. Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden, who was a state economic development official for former Gov. Mike Pence, kicked off a campaign last year for the Republican nomination. State campaign filings show no other Republicans are actively raising money for the 2024 governor’s race, but that doesn’t mean the GOP field is set. Two other potential formidable candidates include Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) and U.S. Representative Trey Hollingsworth (R), who alluded to a possible run for a different office when he decided to not seek reelection this year. Yet some hopefuls believe former Governor Mitch Daniels will seek a return to politics after he steps down as Purdue University’s president at the end of December. So far, he hasn’t made any public comments. U.S. Representative Jim Banks, who unsuccessfully sought a top House Republican position last month, and U.S. Representative Victoria Spartz, have both said they are considering seeking the GOP nomination for Braun’s Senate seat in 2024. Right now, no formal gubernatorial announcements have been declared by Democratic candidates, although discussions of possible 2024 hopefuls are centered on Donnelly, who is now President Joe Biden’s ambassador to the Vatican, and former state school superintendent Jennifer McCormick. McCormick, who won her election as a Republican in 2016, has since switched parties after disputes with GOP Statehouse leaders over education policies.

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State:

Indiana

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