Friday, July 22, 2016

Indiana Republicans Vie for Mike Pence’s Old Job


Now that Mike Pence is the GOP Vice President nominee, has suddenly left a gap on Indiana’s ballot for Governor, and the battle to replace him has been playing out in the unlikeliest of places: a desolate airport hotel in Cleveland, the temporary home of Indiana’s Republican delegation.

The group may be small, but seemingly everyone who matters is there, most of the people who want to be Governor, and most of the people who will choose the new Republican nominee. The result has been an Indiana-only shadow Convention of sorts, an intense, chaotic, awkward week of brazen lobbying at the breakfast buffet, in the hallways and on the elevators of a Hilton Garden Inn.

Calls, texts and one-on-one meetings with the three best-known candidates have nearly exhausted some on the Republican State Central Committee, a group of 22 officials, 16 of whom are there, who intend to name a new nominee for Governor next week.

Whispers have started over which would-be nominees sat beside Committee members during daily bus rides to the National convention site. And leaflets promoting at least one hopeful, Representative Todd Rokita, have appeared under Committee members’ hotel room doors at night, the work, Mr. Rokita cheerfully claimed, of “Rokita elves.”

“It’s just so, so difficult to make this pick,” said Craig Dunn, a Republican County Chairman who sits on the State Central Committee and like most of his colleagues has known the major candidates a long time and has deep ties to all of them. “We’re a pretty jovial, congenial bunch, but there’s kind of a look of seriousness I’m seeing now on people’s faces. It’s a pretty big decision for 22 people to make. We’re in uncharted water here.”

Mostly unnoticed in the selection last week of Mr. Pence as Trump’s running mate was how the decision upended Indiana’s State politics, setting off a chain of events that left at least four major races in question with months to go. Indiana’s politics have been defined by the overwhelming Republican majority in the State Capital in recent years, and this unexpected game of musical chairs is raising a flash of hope for Democrats.

“The political scene in Indiana just turned upside down,” said Marsha Coats, a member of the Republican National Committee and the wife of Senator Dan Coats, who is retiring.

As Mr. Pence withdrew his candidacy for re-election last week, so did three other Republicans, two members of Congress, Mr. Rokita and Representative Susan W. Brooks, as well as Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb. All now hope to be picked as the nominee for Governor instead.

At least one State Senator also hopes to be the nominee, and State Officials said this week that they were hearing “rumbles” that still more people might raise their hands for the job before the State Central Committee’s private meeting and secret-ballot vote, scheduled for next Tuesday back in Indiana. Some Indiana Republicans had urged Mitch Daniels, who preceded Mr. Pence as Governor and whose legacy often seemed to overshadow Mr. Pence’s tenure, to return to office, but Mr. Daniels removed his name from consideration last week.

What Indiana’s leaders and political operatives from both parties do not agree on is this: whether Mr. Pence’s departure deals a significant blow to the Republicans’ chances of holding on to the Governor’s office or whether it may actually help them.

Any replacement for Mr. Pence is likely to have far less name recognition than a sitting Governor and significant ground to make up in fund-raising in a year when a popular Indiana name, Evan Bayh, is unexpectedly back on the Democratic ticket, seeking a return to the United States Senate to replace Mr. Coats.

John Gregg, the Democratic candidate for Governor who narrowly lost to Mr. Pence four years ago, went right on as usual this week, campaigning at County fairs and diners. In an interview, Mr. Gregg said his yearslong effort to serve as Governor now separated him from the crop of Republicans suddenly jockeying for the job.

“The state has a little bit of a Governor Pence hangover,” said Bill Oesterle, the former Chief Executive of Indianapolis-based Angie’s List and a Republican who has been encouraging Mr. Daniels to run for Governor. “Until we know who that new face is, we can’t really tell, but there is an opportunity to pick a candidate who will perform much better.”

Back in Cleveland, in the close quarters of the Hilton Garden Inn, the rushed, intensely personal campaign to win over at least 12 of the 22 State Central Committee members played out in hotel alcoves and conference rooms. Adding to the confusion, the candidates who do not get the Governor’s nomination are widely expected to seek permission to go back to vying for ballot positions for their current jobs, the very ones they withdrew from.

“We’re very blessed,” said Jeff Cardwell, the Chairman of the Indiana Republican Party and one of the 16 Central Committee members in Cleveland. “We’ve got a deep bench, and this is grass-roots politicking at its best.”

As Ms. Brooks strode through the hotel lobby shortly before meeting a Committee member on Tuesday afternoon, she described the situation this way: “I call it the fishbowl.” A former United States attorney in her second term in the House, Ms. Brooks is not a Convention delegate but made the trip with her husband, who is, and it is paying off. “For me, it’s a job interview,” she said.

Mr. Rokita, a three-term Congressman, said the candidates found themselves in a rare political quandary: trying to impress their case upon only a few people who, in many instances, already knew them well. “There’s a lot of emotion going on here,” Mr. Rokita said. “There’s a lot of fair-haired girls and boys.”

All were on the lookout for hints of preference. So when Mr. Holcomb, who recently became Lieutenant Governor but spent years working as an adviser to Mr. Daniels, was called forward on Tuesday to nominate Mr. Pence as Vice President before the National Convention, some took note.

The choice had been kept quiet until just before he spoke, some Indiana Republicans said, wondering aloud what, if anything, it might have signaled.











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