From 2003 to 2011, Holcomb served as an advisor to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, eventually rising to the role of Deputy Chief of Staff,[12][13][14] and served as campaign manager for Daniels's 2008 gubernatorial campaign. He became Chairman of the Indiana Republican Party in 2011.[15] In 2013, he resigned to become the state chief of staff to U.S. SenatorDan Coats.[16][17] In March 2015 Coats announced that he would not run for reelection to the Senate in the 2016 election, and Holcomb announced his intention to run.[18] In February 2016, Holcomb withdrew from the Senate race.[19][20]
Results of the 2016 Indiana gubernatorial election; Holcomb won the counties in red.
Governor Mike Pence was running for reelection with Holcomb as his running mate in the spring and summer of 2016. By late June, rumors that Pence would be the Republican Party's nominee for vice president under presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump began to gain traction. In early July, Trump selected Pence as his running mate. Pence then withdrew from Indiana's gubernatorial election and Holcomb withdrew as the nominee for lieutenant governor. Holcomb decided to pursue the nomination for governor and was selected on the second ballot by the Indiana State Republican Central Committee, defeating Rep. Susan Brooks, Rep. Todd Rokita, and State Senator Jim Tomes.[23]
Holcomb chose Indiana State Auditor Suzanne Crouch as his running mate. They faced 2012 Democratic nominee and former Indiana House Speaker John R. Gregg and his running mate, State Representative Christina Hale. After an unprecedented 106-day campaign, Holcomb defeated Gregg, 51.4% to 45.4%. He ran slightly behind the Trump-Pence ticket, which carried Indiana with 56 percent of the vote.
Holcomb was reelected governor in 2020, defeating former state health commissioner Woody Myers with 57% of the vote. He received the most votes for governor in Indiana history.[24]
First term
After winning the election, Holcomb announced his agenda for the upcoming Indiana General Assembly legislative session. What Holcomb calls his “Next Level Agenda” is based on five “pillars”: strengthening and diversifying Indiana's economy, strengthening Indiana's infrastructure, strengthening education and workforce training, strengthening public health and attacking addiction and providing great government service at an exceptional value to taxpayers. He has said that civility is the foundation on which the other pillars are based.[25]
Holcomb's first act as governor was creating the office of drug prevention, treatment and enforcement and tasking that office with tackling the opioid crisis and other addiction issues in Indiana. Additionally, early in his first term, Holcomb pardoned Keith Cooper, who served eight years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of an armed robbery; declared a disaster emergency at the East Chicago Superfund Site; and ended contract discussions between the Indiana Finance Authority and Agile Networks to manage Indiana's communications infrastructure, including cell towers.[26]
Holcomb at a gubernatorial debate
In April 2017, the Indiana legislature approved Holcomb's request for higher fuel taxes and BMV registration fees to fund infrastructure spending, primarily on road maintenance and construction. The law went into effect on July 1, 2017, and is projected to raise on average $1.2 billion per year through 2024.[27]
In the first quarter of 2019, the National Journal reported that Holcomb's reelection faced serious challenges. It ranked him number 10 on its endangered list, writing, "Holcomb is facing potential match-ups with former state health commissioner Woody Myers and state Senator Eddie Melton."[28] By the end of the second quarter, his approval rating had risen to 50%.[29]
In November 2019, the Center for Investigative Reporting reported that Holcomb had personally pressured an Indiana OSHA investigator to drop a worker fatality case against Amazon so that Indianapolis could have a better chance at being the home of Amazon's HQ2 (a major new office). His office denied the allegations, saying that he had not attended the meeting with the OSHA commissioner and investigator.[30] Holcomb also said the accusations against him would pose a threat to Indiana's "positive business climate" and demanded they be retracted.[31] Regardless of whether Holcomb was directly involved, OSHA eventually dropped the citations against Amazon's fulfillment center and the case was reclassified as one of "employee misconduct" rather than a shortfall in training and safety procedures.[30]
In July 2020, Attorney General Curtis Hill accused Holcomb of overstepping his authority by issuing a statewide face mask mandate with criminal penalties. Hill said that only the legislature has the power under the Indiana constitution to create laws.[32] Holcomb vetoed the laws passed in the special session, and the legislature overrode his vetoes. But on June 2, 2022, the Indiana Supreme Court sided with Holcomb. Citing the state constitution, the court found it was the legislature, not Holcomb, that had overstepped its authority. Chief Justice Loretta Rush wrote in the unanimous opinion, "Simply put, absent a constitutional amendment ... the General Assembly cannot do what HEA-1123 permits, ... our Constitution authorizes only the Governor to call a special session, the General Assembly can set additional sessions—but only by fixing their length and frequency in a law passed during a legislative session and presented to the Governor."[33]
Second term
Holcomb at his second inauguration
Holcomb was inaugurated to a second term on January 11, 2021.
In March 2022, Holcomb vetoed H.E.A. 1041, a bill passed by the Indiana General Assembly that would prohibit transgender women from participating in state-sanctioned girls' sports. He cited the bill's low probability of surviving judicial scrutiny and the lack of pressing concern as his reasons for vetoing it.[34] On May 24, the General Assembly overrode Holcomb's veto, passing the bill into law.[35] In the spring of 2023, Holcomb signed several LGBTQ+-related bills into law, including one that bans gender-affirming care for transgender minors,[36] one that requires that parents be immediately notified if a transgender student comes out to a teacher and prohibits discussions of "human sexuality" up to grade 3,[37] and one that bans gender-affirming surgery for inmates in Indiana Department of Corrections facilities.[38]
Holcomb called a special session shortly before the Supreme Court of the United StatesoverturnedRoe v. Wade in order to address tax rebates amid the early 2020s inflation surge. After Roe was overturned, the Indiana General Assembly passed a near-total ban on abortion procedures, allowing exceptions only in the case of rape up to 10 weeks into pregnancy and threat to the mother's life. Holcomb signed the bill, S.B. 1, into law. The ban on abortion procedures was blocked in court shortly after going into effect in September 2022. The Indiana Supreme Court ultimately allowed the ban to take effect in a June 30, 2023 ruling.[39]
In August 2022, Holcomb led a trade delegation to Taiwan in an effort to strengthen economic ties between Taiwan and Indiana. The delegation also visited South Korea. The visit came after several high-profile visits by U.S. officials to Taiwan, leading to increased tension between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China.[40] In September 2024, Holcomb visited Ukraine to sign an academic, agricultural, and cultural partnership with the country. He is the first U.S. governor to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion.[41]
Personal life
Holcomb's wife, Janet, runs a family business in Madison County, Indiana.[42] They have no children, and owned a miniature schnauzer, Henry Holcomb, who was known as the "First Dog of Indiana".[43]
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