INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -
New Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Holcomb said Friday that
he has picked the state auditor, Suzanne Crouch, as his running mate.
The decision by
Holcomb, the current state lieutenant governor, comes three days after the
Indiana Republican state committee voted to have him replace Gov. Mike Pence
on the November ballot in a reshuffling caused by Pence becoming Donald
Trump’s vice presidential running mate.
Crouch is from
Evansville and was a state legislator and a Vanderburgh County commissioner
before Pence appointed her state auditor in early 2014. She won election to
a full term as auditor later that year.
Holcomb said Crouch
has valuable experience in local and state government that has prepared her
to become lieutenant governor.
“She is full of
energy and passion and is a natural at barnstorming the state,” Holcomb said
in a statement. “She is a relentless campaigner, a great fundraiser and will
be the perfect governing partner.”
Holcomb, 48, is
running against Democrat John Gregg, a former Indiana House speaker who
narrowly lost to Pence in the 2012 election. Gregg’s running mate is state
Rep. Christina Hale, of Indianapolis.
Holcomb faced a
Friday deadline to select a running mate, as whoever he selected had to file
paperwork with state election officials 72 hours before a Monday meeting of
the GOP state committee to formally select the candidate.
Holcomb, who has
served as the state Republican Party chairman but has never been elected to
office, became lieutenant governor in March after Pence’s 2012 running mate,
Sue Ellspermann, resigned to seek the presidency of Ivy Tech State College.