Indiana Republicans chose Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb to replace Gov. Mike Pence as their candidate for governor in a vote by the state party’s 22-member leadership committee on Tuesday.
Holcomb became Indiana’s lieutenant governor in March after years working as a Republican political operative in the Hoosier State. He sought to replace Pence on the ballot after the first-term governor was tapped to be Donald Trump’s running mate.
The one-time campaign manager for former Gov. Mitch Daniels will face Democratic candidate John Gregg in November. Pence closely defeated Gregg, a former congressman from Indiana, in the 2012 gubernatorial race.
A majority of Indiana GOP committee members chose Holcomb over three other contenders for Pence’s spot on the ballot: Reps. Susan Brooks and Todd Rokita, and state Sen. Jim Tomes. Pence endorsed Holcomb last week, shortly after he accepted the Republican vice presidential nomination.
“When selecting my Lt. Governor in March, the primary factor was who would be able to best serve the state of Indiana in the event I could no longer perform my duties as governor. As I concluded before, there is no better individual to lead our state than Eric Holcomb,” Pence wrote in a letter to the committee.
