Indiana GOP panel set to select Pence replacement for ballot
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana Republican leaders were set to meet in private Tuesday to choose the candidate who will replace Gov. Mike Pence as the GOP gubernatorial nominee following his withdrawal to become Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate.
The 22-member Indiana Republican state committee will make the unprecedented selection. State law prohibits Pence from running for both offices on the November ballot.
Pence and several other top Republican officials and donors have endorsed Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb for the nomination. At least three state committee members are publicly backing Holcomb, but U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks and Todd Rokita also have supporters among the committee members.
The committee's choice will face Democratic nominee John Gregg, who narrowly lost to Pence in the 2012 election.
Republican Party rules give each of the candidates three minutes to speak before the state committee. But much of the jockeying for the nomination went on last week when the candidates and most committee members were at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
Holcomb, a former state Republican chairman who has never been elected to office, has touted his eight years as a top aide and campaign manager to former Gov. Mitch Daniels and four months as lieutenant governor. Pence picked Holcomb after his 2012 running mate, Sue Ellspermann, resigned in March.
Supporters of Brooks and Rokita argue that they're better candidates to extend the GOP's 12-year hold on the governor's office. However, a rejection of Holcomb could embarrass Pence just days after his ratification as the Republican vice presidential candidate.
State committee member Kyle Hupfer of Madison County, who is supporting Holcomb, said the lieutenant governor benefits from long ties with GOP leaders.
"He's been uniquely positioned from the beginning given his relationship with people on the state committee over the past decade or more," Hupfer said. "Whereas, the others who have sought this just haven't had that connectivity with the state committee."
Brooks, a two-term congresswoman who was the U.S. attorney for Indianapolis under President George W. Bush, is not well known around the state, but she could better appeal to women and suburban Republicans wary of Pence's conservative stances on social issues. Indiana has never had a female governor.
Rokita's campaign is highlighting his two wins in statewide elections as secretary of state before he was elected to Congress in 2010 as evidence he would be the best candidate.