3 vying to replace Pence in race for Indiana governor
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - In a little more than an hour Friday, Indiana's election season lost its incumbent candidate for governor, gained three new candidates for that race and watched tickets for congressional and state offices change.
The simple cause for the chaos: GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump officially tapped Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate Friday morning.
Indiana law bars a candidate from seeking state and federal offices at the same time, so a representative for Pence filed paperwork to remove his name from November's ballot shortly after Trump's tweet. That form, signed by Pence and dated Thursday, was delivered to state election officials about an hour before the noon deadline.
The 22-member state Republican committee will pick a new candidate on July 26 from among the three who want to take Pence's place - Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb and U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks and Todd Rokita - against Democratic nominee John Gregg, the former Indiana House speaker who Pence narrowly beat in 2012.
Other Republicans who weren't on this year's ballot could still seek the governor's spot, but Holcomb, Brooks and Rokita have been the most active possible candidates.
It isn't just the gubernatorial race that's been thrown into uncertainty, so are races for Brooks' and Rokita's House seats in heavily Republican districts in central Indiana and the lieutenant governor's spot. The state committee will choose Holcomb's ballot replacement on Aug. 1.
Whoever is passed over for the governor's race can be restored to the ballot for the positions they withdrew from Friday, but Indiana Republican Party Chairman Jeff Cardwell said the candidates were given no assurances they'd be chosen to return to their former races.
"Short answer for you - absolutely none," he said. "It is a big risk and they offer themselves up because they feel they have a plan and a vison for the future."
Holcomb, Brooks and Rokita declared that they're seeking to replace Pence after filing their ballot-withdrawal paperwork.
"I have my own campaign to run here starting this very minute," Rokita said in the reception area of the Secretary of State's office. "I intend to keep moving the state forward - the economy, jobs and running these state agencies well."
Rokita, who twice won statewide races for secretary of state before being elected to Congress in 2010, also said that Indiana was a "backwater" state before the last 12 years of GOP governors.
Holcomb, who has never been elected to office, touted his eight years as an aide and campaign manager to former Gov. Mitch Daniels and four months as lieutenant governor. Pence picked Holcomb for the post in March after his 2012 running mate, Sue Ellspermann, resigned.
"I look forward to continuing the success here in Indiana and being able to share my contribution and my participation in getting this state back on track, on course, and moving full steam ahead," Holcomb said.
A four-year member of the U.S. House and previously the U.S. Attorney in Indianapolis, Brooks said if she's selected she'll continue pushing to make the state business-friendly, while also focusing on improving the state's infrastructure and job training.
"We need to make sure that people of all ages have the tools they need to create a brighter future," she said.
Among the notable politicians not seeking the governor's seat are Daniels and Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma, who said in a statement Friday that he was passing on the race despite receiving "many calls" urging him to run.
Gregg, who had been locked in a contentious governor's race with Pence, said Indiana's problems, including a lack of high-paying jobs, infrastructure woes and drug abuse, took a back seat to Pence's "personal ambition and extreme ideologies" during his time as governor.
The Democrat's statement also said he wants to hear from his three possible rivals whether they'll continue Pence's policies and cast the race as about "who is best equipped to clean up the mess Mike Pence made."
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Associated Press writers Brian Slodysko and Rick Callahan contributed to this report.