Mike Braun speaks to supporters at Moonshot Brewing Co. in Whitestown after being declared the winner of the Indiana Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (IBJ photo/Mickey Shuey)
Sen. Mike Braun’s gubernatorial campaign says an impending leadership change for the state’s top office doesn’t necessarily mean a shakeup at the Indiana Republican Party’s headquarters.
Indiana governors typically install their own picks.
Current Gov. Eric Holcomb, who’s term-limited, nominated longtime political consultant Anne Hathaway to lead the party last August; party leaders backed him up on the decision. It came after former Chair Kyle Hupfer left to work on businessman Brad Chamber’s unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign.
Braun dominated the six-way Republican primary to earn the GOP nomination, but he’s in no rush to remake his party’s ranks, according to his campaign.
Senior Advisor Josh Kelley said he called Hathaway the day after the primary election, at Braun’s request, with reassurance her job wasn’t at risk.
“I … let her know that, as far as we’re concerned, the work that she has done to get this party on solid footing and prepare for us to be successful at convention — not to mention all the years that she served this party — that she can write her own ticket on when she decides to move on to the next step,” Kelley told reporters Wednesday.
“So we haven’t set a timeline on that with her yet. And we’re happy to have her stick on board as our partner as long as she sees fit,” he added.
The state party’s own rules require reorganization every four years, but doesn’t mandate a team of entirely fresh faces.
That reorganization happens after the presidential election, per the rules, on a Wednesday in mid-March. Officers are elected by secret ballot, beginning with the chair and followed by the vice-chair, secretary and treasurer.
“That’s the next point where you know, probably, a Gov. Braun would really have carte blanche to say, ‘Here’s who I really want in there,’” Kelley said of reorganization.
“Until that point, we’re still a candidate. We’re not writing anything off, as far as what might happen in November,” he continued. “And … we still respect Governor Holcomb and his prerogative to be involved in that discussion while he’s in that office and we hope someday to have the same deference from the next person … .”
Braun faces Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater in the general election on November 5.
By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz – The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
