Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) “is leaning toward running for governor in 2024, a move that would open up a GOP-held seat in what’s become a reliably red state,” Politico reports.
Mitch Daniels Eyes Return to Politics
Politico: “The former two-term Indiana governor, who came to the brink of announcing a 2012 presidential bid in 2011 before backing out over family concerns, announced last week that he would step down as president of Purdue University at the end of this year after nearly a decade, shocking the campus.”
“Now, longtime loyalists and friends say the 73-year-old former director of George W. Bush’s Office of Management and Budget is warming up to the idea of a return to politics, batting around a potential third gubernatorial run in the Hoosier state’s open 2024 contest. Current Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Daniels ally and his handpicked party chairman during his administration, is term-limited from running again.”
Pence Still Technically Running for Governor
Gov. Mike Pence (R) “still has not filed the necessary paperwork to withdraw himself from the governor’s race that would allow him to run for vice-president,” the Weekly Standard reports.
Pence’s team has until noon on Friday to file the papers.
Pence Will Run for Re-Election
Any speculation that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) “would pass on a re-election bid following a highly contentious start to 2015 was extinguished Monday,” the Indianapolis Star reports.
The Indiana Republican Party issued a statement saying Pence would formally announce that he’d be seeking re-election in 2016 during the party’s Spring Dinner in June.
Gregg Will Challenge Pence for Indiana Governor
John Gregg (D) “is running again for Indiana governor, this time with a stronger focus on Gov. Mike Pence’s (R) social issues, including the recent ‘religious freedom’ debacle,” the Indianapolis Star reports.
Said Gregg: “The governor had done what he said he wasn’t going to do. I thought he was going to focus on the economy, I thought he was going to focus on creating good paying jobs and improving our education system. He’s focused on nothing but social issues, which was his record in Congress, and those social issues do nothing but divide us.”
Baron Hill Mulls Bid for Indiana Governor
Former Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN) seems serious about running for Indiana governor in 2016, the Southern Indiana News and Tribune reports.
“Hill, 61, who spent five terms in Congress representing southern Indiana, has left his lucrative job with a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm, moved back to Indiana to live full-time, consulted with fellow Democrats, and calculated the financial commitment to knock off an incumbent governor — a feat never done before in Indiana.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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