2012 Indiana gubernatorial election (1941: Barbarossa Victory)

The **2012 Indiana gubernatorial election** took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 United States presidential election. Incumbent governor Mitch Daniels was term-limited and unable to seek a third consecutive term. The Republican candidate was gubernatorial staffer and Indiana Republican Party chair Eric Holcomb, who won out in the Republican primaries against the more conservative Congressman Mike Pence. The Democratic Progressive candidate was former Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives John R. Gregg, who ran unopposed in his primary, while the Libertarian nominee was reality TV personality and small business owner Rupert Boneham, who also ran unopposed in his primary. In addition, John Shearer ran as the joint Green-Socialist nominee.

The election was the first Indiana gubernatorial election since 1972 without the governor or lieutenant governor as a nominee, and was the closest gubernatorial election in the state in many decades, while Holcomb beating out Gregg by less than 2 points to be elected to a four-year term as governor of Indiana while also becoming the youngest governor in the country, being only 44 when he was elected. This is the most recent time a Republican was elected governor of Indiana, as Gregg would defeat Holcomb in a rematch in 2016 and be re-elected in a race against Congressman Todd Rokita in 2020. Despite Holcomb's victory in the gubernatorial election, Democratic Progressive president Barack Obama would win the concurrent presidential election, marking the second election in a row where the winner of Indiana's gubernatorial election was of a different party than the winner of the state in the concurrent presidential election.

## Republican primary

### Candidates

* Eric Holcomb, gubernatorial staffer for Mitch Daniels and chair of the Indiana Republican Party
* Mike Pence, congressional representative for IN-06
* Greg Ballard, mayor of Indianapolis and environmentalist

## Democratic Progressive primary

### Candidates

* John R. Gregg, former Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives

## Libertarian primary

### Candidates

* Rupert Boneham, former contestant on *Survivor* and founder of Rupert's Kids. Boneham was nominated without a primary and ran unopposed.

## Socialist primary

### Candidates

The Socialist Party of Indiana, the state affiliate of the Socialist Party USA had cross-endorsed its gubernatorial nominee with the Green Party of Indiana in every election since 2004. At the party convention in July the party's delegation unanimously voted to endorse Green Party nominee John Shearer for Governor.

## General election

### Candidates

* Eric Holcomb (Republican), gubernatorial staffer and state party chairman

* **Running mate:** Steve Buyer, U.S. Representative

* John Gregg (Democratic Progressive), former Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives

* **Running mate:** Christina Hale, Business executive

* Rupert Boneham (Libertarian), television personality

* **Running mate:** Brad Klopfenstein, former executive director of the Libertarian Party of Indiana

* John Shearer (Green-Socialist), Green Party activist

* **Running mate:** Andrew Straw, Disability rights activist

### Statewide results

The election was extremely close, with a victor still unclear by the time polls closed that evening. Despite this, Holcomb would gradually develop a lead as more ballots were counted, being declared the victor by 1:30 am by most media outlets, and by 2:00 am the next morning John R. Gregg conceded the race, seeing any chance of victory as having diminished. The race for governor was the closest in the state in many decades, although it would be followed by an even closer race in 2016.