# 2020 Indiana gubernatorial election

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The 2020 Indiana gubernatorial election was won by incumbent Republican Eric Holcomb on November 3, 2020. The election was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Holcomb was eligible to run for re-election to a second term in office, and announced his intention to do so on July 13, 2019, alongside his lieutenant governor, Suzanne Crouch. He faced Democrat Woody Myers, the former health commissioner of Indiana (and later, of New York City) and his running mate, Linda Lawson, the former minority leader of the Indiana House of Representatives, in addition to Libertarian Donald Rainwater, a U.S. Navy veteran and his running mate William Henry. Primary elections were held on June 2; Holcomb and Myers ran unopposed.
In the general election, Holcomb won re-election to a second term. Myers also became the first major party candidate to receive fewer than one million votes since Republican David McIntosh in 2000. The election was also notable for the strong performance of Libertarian candidate Rainwater, who finished in second place, behind Holcomb and ahead of Myers, in over one-third of Indiana's counties, 33 out of 92. The stronger-than-expected performance by Rainwater was perceived to be a reaction to Governor Holcomb's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Rainwater pushing for fewer government restrictions.
The Associated Press's large-scale pre-election survey found that Eric Holcomb won white Hoosiers 62–27%, while Myers won black Hoosiers 76–20%.
This election marked the worst performance by a Democratic candidate for governor in Indiana history.

## Republican primary
### Candidates
#### Nominee

* Eric Holcomb, incumbent governor of Indiana
   * Running mate: Suzanne Crouch, incumbent lieutenant governor

#### Removed from ballot

* Brian Roth, businessman

#### Declined

* Curtis Hill, Attorney General of Indiana (running for re-election)

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Eric Holcomb (incumbent) | 524,496 | 100.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 524,496 | 100.00 |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Nominee

* Woody Myers, business executive and former Indiana Health Commissioner and New York City Health Commissioner
   * Running mate: Linda Lawson, former Minority Leader of the Indiana House of Representatives

#### Withdrew

* Eddie Melton, state senator from the 3rd district
* Josh Owens, businessman, former chairman of the Indiana Charter School Board, and former Luke Messer congressional staffer (endorsed Myers)

#### Declined

* Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend and former 2020 presidential candidate
* Joe Donnelly, former U.S. senator
* Greg Goodnight, former mayor of Kokomo
* John R. Gregg, former speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, former state representative from the 45th district, and Democratic nominee for governor in 2012 and 2016
* Christina Hale, state representative from the 87th district and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2016 (running for Indiana's 5th Congressional district)
* Baron Hill, former U.S. representative from Indiana's 9th congressional district (endorsed Myers)
* Joe Hogsett, mayor of Indianapolis
* Karlee Macer, state representative from the 92nd district
* Thomas McDermott Jr., mayor of Hammond (running for Indiana's 1st congressional district)
* Jonathan Weinzapfel, former mayor of Evansville (running for Attorney General)

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Woody Myers | 408,230 | 100.00 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 408,230 | 100.00 |

## Libertarian convention
### Candidates
#### Nominee

* Donald Rainwater, U.S. Navy veteran; Libertarian candidate for Indiana State Senate in 2016 and for Indiana House of Representatives in 2018
   * Running mate: William Henry

#### Eliminated at convention

* Bill Levin, Grand Poobah of the First Church of Cannabis of Indianapolis

## General election
### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Safe R | October 23, 2020 |
| Inside Elections | Safe R | October 28, 2020 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | November 2, 2020 |
| Politico | Likely R | November 2, 2020 |
| Daily Kos | Safe R | October 28, 2020 |
| RCP | Safe R | November 2, 2020 |
| 270towin | Safe R | November 2, 2020 |

### Endorsements

Organizations
* Huck PAC
* National Federation of Independent Business
* National Right to Life Committee
* NRA Political Victory Fund
U.S. vice presidents
* Joe Biden, 47th Vice President of the United States (2009-2017), Democratic nominee for the 2020 election
U.S. senators
* Joe Donnelly, former U.S. senator from Indiana (2013–2019), U.S. representative from IN-02 (2007–2013)
U.S. representatives
* André Carson, U.S. representative from IN-07 (2008–present)
* Lee H. Hamilton, former U.S. representative from IN-09 (1965–1999)
* Baron Hill, former U.S. representative from IN-09 (1999–2005, 2007–2011)
State officials
* Jennifer McCormick, 44th Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction (2017–present) (Republican)
State senators
* Jean Breaux, Member of the Indiana Senate from the 34th district (2006–present)
* J. D. Ford, Member of the Indiana Senate from the 34th district (2018–present)
* Tim Lanane, Minority Leader of the Indiana Senate (2008–present) and Member of the Indiana Senate from the 25th district (1997–present)
* Eddie Melton, Member of the Indiana Senate from the 34th district (2016–present)
State representatives
* Ed DeLaney, Member of the Indiana House of Representatives from the 86th district (2009–present)
* Phil GiaQuinta, Minority Leader of the Indiana House of Representatives (2018–present) and Member of the Indiana House of Representatives from the 80th district (2006–present)
* Cherrish Pryor, Member of the Indiana House of Representatives from the 94th district (2007–present)
Local officials
* Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana (2012–2020) and former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate
* Jerome Prince, mayor of Gary, Indiana (2020–present)
Organizations
* Indiana NORML
State representatives
* Jim Lucas (R), Member of the Indiana House of Representatives from the 69th district (2012–present)
Individuals
* Micah Beckwith, pastor and former 2020 Republican candidate for Indiana's 5th congressional district
* Spike Cohen, 2020 Libertarian vice presidential candidate

### Polling
#### Graphical summary

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Eric Holcomb (R) | Woody Myers (D) | Donald Rainwater (L) | Other / Undecided |
| Cygnal | October 21–23, 2020 | 600 (LV) | ± 4% | 47% | 29% | 15% | 10% |
| Ragnar Research (R) | October 18–21, 2020 | 529 (LV) | ± 4% | 52% | 26% | 14% | 8% |
| SurveyUSA | October 10–13, 2020 | 527 (LV) | ± 5.2% | 55% | 25% | 10% | 11% |
| BK Strategies (R) | October 4–5, 2020 | 600 (LV) | ± 4% | 60% | 21% | 8% | 11% |
| Change Research | September 3–7, 2020 | 1,033 (LV) | ± 3.1% | 36% | 30% | 24% | 10% |
| BK Strategies (R) | May 20–21, 2020 | 600 (LV) | ± 4% | 64% | 21% | – | 15% |
| Change Research | April 10–13, 2020 | 1,021 (LV) | ± 3.1% | 45% | 25% | 8% | 22% |

### Results

Holcomb won reelection by over 24 percentage points, the biggest margin of victory for an Indiana gubernatorial candidate since Evan Bayh in 1992 as well as the biggest ever for a Republican. Exit polls show Holcomb won over 30% of voters who voted for Democrat Joe Biden for president. This is also one of the strongest performances for a third-party candidate in a statewide election in Indiana, with Libertarian nominee Donald Rainwater receiving over 11% of the total vote. Rainwater outperformed Myers in several counties; his best performance was in Putnam County, where he received nearly 26% of the vote.
Indiana gubernatorial election, 2020 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Eric Holcomb (incumbent)Suzanne Crouch (incumbent) | 1,706,727 | 56.51 | +5.13 |
| | Democratic | Woody MyersLinda Lawson | 968,094 | 32.05 | −13.37 |
| | Libertarian | Donald RainwaterWilliam Henry | 345,567 | 11.44 | +8.24 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 3,020,388 | 100.00 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,068,625 | 65.58 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 4,751,370 | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### By county

Vote breakdown by county :
| | Holcomb/Crouch Republican | Holcomb/Crouch Republican | Myers/Lawson Democratic | Myers/Lawson Democratic | Rainwater/Henry Libertarian | Rainwater/Henry Libertarian | Total |
| County | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes |
| Adams | 9,441 | 66.7% | 2,143 | 15.1% | 2,570 | 18.2% | 14,154 |
| Allen | 98,406 | 58.5% | 53,895 | 32.0% | 16,011 | 9.5% | 168,312 |
| Bartholomew | 21,959 | 60.9% | 9,013 | 25.0% | 5,065 | 14.1% | 36,037 |
| Benton | 2,815 | 68.7% | 671 | 16.4% | 614 | 15.0% | 4,100 |
| Blackford | 3,333 | 63.1% | 933 | 17.7% | 1,017 | 19.3% | 5,283 |
| Boone | 23,737 | 61.7% | 9,661 | 25.1% | 5,094 | 13.2% | 38,492 |
| Brown | 4,953 | 55.3% | 2,381 | 26.6% | 1,623 | 18.1% | 8,957 |
| Carroll | 6,077 | 63.9% | 1,569 | 16.5% | 1,864 | 19.6% | 9,510 |
| Cass | 8,833 | 58.3% | 3,373 | 22.3% | 2,940 | 19.4% | 15,146 |
| Clark | 34,669 | 60.4% | 19,077 | 33.2% | 3,680 | 6.4% | 57,426 |
| Clay | 8,164 | 67.0% | 1,780 | 14.6% | 2,242 | 18.4% | 12,186 |
| Clinton | 7,971 | 61.8% | 2,406 | 18.7% | 2,514 | 19.5% | 12,891 |
| Crawford | 3,064 | 63.1% | 1,242 | 25.6% | 553 | 11.4% | 4,859 |
| Daviess | 8,313 | 70.1% | 1,531 | 12.9% | 2,016 | 17.0% | 11,860 |
| Dearborn | 18,353 | 72.6% | 4,559 | 18.0% | 2,383 | 9.4% | 25,295 |
| Decatur | 7,911 | 64.5% | 1,562 | 12.7% | 2,787 | 22.7% | 12,260 |
| Dekalb | 13,042 | 66.9% | 3,293 | 16.9% | 3,158 | 16.2% | 19,493 |
| Delaware | 26,829 | 56.0% | 15,638 | 32.6% | 5,482 | 11.4% | 47,949 |
| Dubois | 14,403 | 66.7% | 4,586 | 21.2% | 2,599 | 12.0% | 21,588 |
| Elkhart | 46,223 | 62.1% | 20,512 | 27.6% | 7,690 | 10.3% | 74,425 |
| Fayette | 6,933 | 69.0% | 1,707 | 17.0% | 1,414 | 14.1% | 10,054 |
| Floyd | 24,972 | 60.0% | 14,948 | 35.9% | 1,669 | 4.0% | 41,589 |
| Fountain | 5,189 | 65.3% | 1,150 | 14.5% | 1,613 | 20.3% | 7,952 |
| Franklin | 8,633 | 73.0% | 1,690 | 14.3% | 1,499 | 12.7% | 11,822 |
| Fulton | 5,436 | 59.6% | 1,603 | 17.6% | 2,084 | 22.8% | 9,123 |
| Gibson | 11,607 | 72.0% | 2,990 | 18.5% | 1,533 | 9.5% | 16,130 |
| Grant | 16,847 | 62.3% | 5,849 | 21.6% | 4,325 | 16.0% | 27,021 |
| Greene | 9,579 | 65.2% | 2,511 | 17.1% | 2,604 | 17.7% | 14,694 |
| Hamilton | 117,749 | 60.8% | 58,714 | 30.3% | 17,121 | 8.8% | 193,584 |
| Hancock | 25,647 | 59.9% | 8,538 | 19.9% | 8,624 | 20.1% | 42,809 |
| Harrison | 14,083 | 69.7% | 4,514 | 22.3% | 1,602 | 7.9% | 20,199 |
| Hendricks | 50,697 | 57.5% | 23,179 | 26.3% | 14,246 | 16.2% | 88,122 |
| Henry | 12,491 | 59.3% | 4,128 | 19.6% | 4,442 | 21.1% | 21,061 |
| Howard | 24,359 | 60.1% | 9,871 | 24.3% | 6,317 | 15.6% | 40,547 |
| Huntington | 11,759 | 66.3% | 2,804 | 15.8% | 3,168 | 17.9% | 17,731 |
| Jackson | 11,714 | 61.2% | 3,234 | 16.9% | 4,188 | 21.9% | 19,136 |
| Jasper | 10,378 | 67.5% | 2,904 | 18.9% | 2,089 | 13.6% | 15,371 |
| Jay | 5,227 | 62.2% | 1,240 | 14.8% | 1,938 | 23.1% | 8,405 |
| Jefferson | 9,076 | 62.4% | 3,711 | 25.5% | 1,750 | 12.0% | 14,537 |
| Jennings | 7,547 | 62.1% | 1,930 | 15.9% | 2,676 | 22.0% | 12,153 |
| Johnson | 47,467 | 61.4% | 17,630 | 22.8% | 12,177 | 15.8% | 77,274 |
| Knox | 11,210 | 70.8% | 2,809 | 17.7% | 1,821 | 11.5% | 15,840 |
| Kosciusko | 23,029 | 64.6% | 5,784 | 16.2% | 6,845 | 19.2% | 35,658 |
| Lagrange | 7,520 | 71.1% | 1,690 | 16.0% | 1,365 | 12.9% | 10,575 |
| Lake | 94,841 | 43.7% | 112,352 | 51.7% | 10,039 | 4.6% | 217,232 |
| LaPorte | 26,129 | 53.7% | 18,133 | 37.3% | 4,356 | 9.0% | 48,618 |
| Lawrence | 13,371 | 64.1% | 3,616 | 17.3% | 3,881 | 18.6% | 20,868 |
| Madison | 29,434 | 56.8% | 14,254 | 27.5% | 8,118 | 15.7% | 51,806 |
| Marion | 152,405 | 39.0% | 203,475 | 52.1% | 34,974 | 8.9% | 390,854 |
| Marshall | 13,145 | 66.4% | 4,025 | 20.3% | 2,634 | 13.3% | 19,804 |
| Martin | 3,232 | 63.1% | 709 | 13.9% | 1,177 | 23.0% | 5,118 |
| Miami | 9,208 | 64.1% | 2,439 | 17.0% | 2,714 | 18.9% | 14,361 |
| Monroe | 24,605 | 39.4% | 33,033 | 52.8% | 4,885 | 7.8% | 62,523 |
| Montgomery | 10,587 | 61.6% | 2,812 | 16.4% | 3,785 | 22.0% | 17,184 |
| Morgan | 22,161 | 61.6% | 5,602 | 15.6% | 8,184 | 22.8% | 35,947 |
| Newton | 4,358 | 66.5% | 1,148 | 17.5% | 1,050 | 16.0% | 6,556 |
| Noble | 12,498 | 65.5% | 3,237 | 17.0% | 3,353 | 17.6% | 19,088 |
| Ohio | 2,210 | 69.4% | 641 | 20.1% | 335 | 10.5% | 3,186 |
| Orange | 5,591 | 63.8% | 1,952 | 22.3% | 1,216 | 13.9% | 8,759 |
| Owen | 5,857 | 59.5% | 1,852 | 18.8% | 2,137 | 21.7% | 9,846 |
| Parke | 4,766 | 68.4% | 1,127 | 16.2% | 1,079 | 15.5% | 6,972 |
| Perry | 5,523 | 63.9% | 2,518 | 29.1% | 607 | 7.0% | 8,648 |
| Pike | 4,199 | 68.4% | 1,092 | 17.8% | 850 | 13.8% | 6,141 |
| Porter | 45,996 | 53.2% | 33,397 | 38.6% | 7,131 | 8.2% | 86,524 |
| Posey | 9,648 | 72.9% | 2,773 | 21.0% | 809 | 6.1% | 13,230 |
| Pulaski | 3,874 | 67.2% | 1,019 | 17.7% | 875 | 15.2% | 5,768 |
| Putnam | 9,375 | 56.7% | 2,876 | 17.4% | 4,269 | 25.8% | 16,520 |
| Randolph | 7,399 | 67.3% | 1,863 | 16.9% | 1,732 | 15.8% | 10,994 |
| Ripley | 9,518 | 67.0% | 2,231 | 15.7% | 2,458 | 17.3% | 14,207 |
| Rush | 4,949 | 62.8% | 1,215 | 15.4% | 1,716 | 21.8% | 7,880 |
| Scott | 6,065 | 60.8% | 2,297 | 23.0% | 1,613 | 16.2% | 9,975 |
| Shelby | 12,269 | 61.8% | 3,499 | 17.6% | 4,099 | 20.6% | 19,867 |
| Spencer | 7,272 | 68.2% | 2,461 | 23.1% | 926 | 8.7% | 10,659 |
| St. Joseph | 60,696 | 52.9% | 48,610 | 42.4% | 5,387 | 4.7% | 114,693 |
| Starke | 6,730 | 66.1% | 2,026 | 19.9% | 1,427 | 14.0% | 10,183 |
| Steuben | 11,407 | 70.9% | 2,939 | 18.3% | 1,739 | 10.8% | 16,085 |
| Sullivan | 6,009 | 67.4% | 1,550 | 17.4% | 1,357 | 15.2% | 8,916 |
| Switzerland | 2,846 | 69.8% | 822 | 20.1% | 412 | 10.1% | 4,080 |
| Tippecanoe | 37,979 | 53.3% | 26,179 | 36.8% | 7,057 | 9.9% | 71,215 |
| Tipton | 5,169 | 64.0% | 1,200 | 14.9% | 1,707 | 21.1% | 8,076 |
| Union | 2,533 | 73.2% | 603 | 17.4% | 323 | 9.3% | 3,459 |
| Vanderburgh | 46,490 | 60.1% | 27,242 | 35.2% | 3,658 | 4.7% | 77,390 |
| Vermillion | 4,938 | 66.9% | 1,531 | 20.7% | 917 | 12.4% | 7,386 |
| Vigo | 25,917 | 59.8% | 13,999 | 32.3% | 3,419 | 7.9% | 43,335 |
| Wabash | 9,111 | 62.8% | 2,421 | 16.7% | 2,979 | 20.5% | 14,511 |
| Warren | 3,009 | 67.5% | 672 | 15.1% | 777 | 17.4% | 4,458 |
| Warrick | 22,703 | 67.7% | 9,074 | 27.1% | 1,747 | 5.2% | 33,524 |
| Washington | 7,919 | 65.6% | 2,408 | 19.9% | 1,746 | 14.5% | 12,073 |
| Wayne | 16,914 | 61.2% | 7,534 | 27.3% | 3,172 | 11.5% | 27,620 |
| Wells | 9,371 | 66.7% | 1,967 | 14.0% | 2,712 | 19.3% | 14,050 |
| White | 7,334 | 65.8% | 1,978 | 17.8% | 1,826 | 16.4% | 11,138 |
| Whitley | 11,522 | 66.0% | 2,738 | 15.7% | 3,191 | 18.3% | 17,451 |
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
* Delaware (largest municipality: Muncie)
* Knox (largest municipality: Vincennes)
* LaPorte (largest municipality: Michigan City)
* Perry (largest municipality: Tell City)
* Porter (largest municipality: Portage)
* St. Joseph (largest municipality: South Bend)
* Sullivan (largest municipality: Sullivan)
* Tippecanoe (largest municipality: Lafayette)
* Vermillion (largest municipality: Clinton)
* Vigo (largest municipality: Terre Haute)

#### By congressional district

Holcomb won 7 of 9 congressional districts.
| District | Holcomb | Myers | Rainwater | Representative |
| 1st | 47% | 48% | 6% | Frank J. Mrvan |
| 2nd | 59% | 31% | 10% | Jackie Walorski |
| 3rd | 62% | 24% | 13% | Jim Banks |
| 4th | 59% | 25% | 16% | Jim Baird |
| 5th | 56% | 34% | 10% | Victoria Spartz |
| 6th | 63% | 22% | 15% | Greg Pence |
| 7th | 37% | 53% | 10% | André Carson |
| 8th | 65% | 25% | 10% | Larry Bucshon |
| 9th | 58% | 30% | 12% | Trey Hollingsworth |