Eric Holcomb

Eric Joseph Holcomb (born May 2, 1968) is an American politician serving as the 51st and current governor of Indiana since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 51st lieutenant governor of Indiana from 2016 to 2017 under Governor Mike Pence, now the 48th Vice President of the United States. Holcomb was nominated to fill the remainder of Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann's term after she resigned on March 2, 2016, to become President of Ivy Tech Community College. He won the 2016 election for governor of Indiana over Democratic nominee John R. Gregg.

Holcomb was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He graduated from Pike High School in Indianapolis, and in 1990 from Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana. At Hanover, he joined the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta and served as chapter president. Holcomb served in the United States Navy for six years as an intelligence officer, stationed in Jacksonville, Florida and in Lisbon, Portugal. He received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Trine University on October 5, 2018, and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Anderson University on May 11, 2019.

Holcomb began working for John Hostettler, a member of the United States House of Representatives, in 1997. In 2000, Holcomb ran for the Indiana House of Representatives against John Frenz, but was defeated.

From 2003 to 2011, Holcomb served as an advisor to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, eventually rising to the role of Deputy Chief of Staff, and served as campaign manager for Daniels's 2008 gubernatorial campaign. He became Chairman of the Indiana Republican Party in 2011. In 2013, he resigned to become the state chief of staff to U.S. Senator Dan Coats. 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. In February 2016, Holcomb withdrew from the Senate race.

After Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann announced her resignation, Governor Mike Pence chose Holcomb to succeed her and to be his running mate in the 2016 gubernatorial election. Holcomb was sworn in as lieutenant governor on March 3, 2016.

2016 election

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 officially 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.

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%.

Tenure

Holcomb was sworn into office on January 9, 2017. In his first month in office, he focused on the five parts of his "Next Level" Agenda: cultivating a strong and diverse economy by growing Indiana as a magnet for jobs, creating a 20-year plan to fund roads and bridges, developing a 21st-century skilled and ready workforce, attacking the drug epidemic, and delivering great government service. In his first State of the State address, he emphasized the need to fix state roads, address the drug epidemic, and train workers.

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 for infrastructure spending.

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." By the end of the second quarter, his approval rating had risen to 50%.

In November 2019, the Center for Investigative Reporting uncovered that Holcomb had personally pressured an Indiana OSHA investigator to drop a worker fatality case against Amazon so that Indianapolis could have a better shot at being the home of Amazon's Headquarters 2.0. His office denied the allegations, saying he had not even attended the meeting with the OSHA commissioner and investigator. Holcomb also said the accusations against him would pose a threat to Indiana's "positive business climate" and demanded they be retracted. Regardless of whether Holcomb was directly involved, OSHA did eventually drop 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.

Holcomb's wife, Janet, runs a family business in Madison County, Indiana. They have no children, and own a miniature schnauzer, Henry Holcomb, who is known as the "First Dog of Indiana".