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This year, Indiana has its first competitive primary for governor in two decades. Six Republicans are seeking their party's nomination. It's an open seat, as current-Governor Eric Holcomb is term-limited after eight years in office. Indiana Public Broadcasting's Brandon Smith reports that Holcomb isn't endorsing anyone, not even his lieutenant governor.
BRANDON SMITH, BYLINE: Holcomb first started getting questions about an endorsement a year and a half ago, especially once his governing partner, Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, joined the race. But he resisted, at first acknowledging that Crouch needed to be her own candidate.
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ERIC HOLCOMB: I don't want anyone thinking that just because she and I worked so closely together that she's a clone of me.
SMITH: Despite Holcomb's solid approval rating from Indiana voters, it's a little different in the Republican base. The right wing's anger is focused primarily on Holcomb's policies trying to combat COVID-19. Crouch has been happy to distance herself on that issue.
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SUZANNE CROUCH: We can't go back and change what happened, but I've learned from the mistakes of our top executive.
SMITH: But she doesn't shy away from her resume, which includes decades of elected office. In one of the primary's debates, a moderator asked her why so many of the candidates try to claim they're the outsider in the race.
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PHIL SANCHEZ: How can anyone in this primary claim to be an outsider?
CROUCH: I don't know.
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CROUCH: But, you know, I'm proud of my public service.
SMITH: So is it awkward that her previous running mate hasn't backed her? Mike O'Brien has worked in Indiana politics for two decades and ran Holcomb's 2016 campaign for governor. He's also informally advising Crouch in this race and says the governor doesn't want to risk hurting her with an endorsement.
MIKE O'BRIEN: Maybe you don't want it to not be helpful (laughter) - right? - if you're the leader of the party. You want to - we've got perfectly legitimate candidates here. Any one of them can serve in the role as governor. Let's just let that play itself out.
SMITH: So if a Holcomb endorsement isn't driving this race, what is? Perhaps another endorsement - former President Donald Trump, who jumped in early to back U.S. Senator Mike Braun.
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MIKE BRAUN: He is the guy that broke the system at the federal level, and now the system's trying to take him out. So if you want to know who the outsider is, that's very clear, and I represent that here.
SMITH: O'Brien says in a state where Trump's favorability among Republicans is in the 80s, that's a huge factor.
O'BRIEN: Maybe the simple analysis is the right one, and that is Trump endorsed Mike Braun. He started out with the most name ID and a lot of money, and that's all, really, it's going to take right now in the context of a Republican primary.
SMITH: A lot of money is putting it mildly. The six Republicans will spend around $40 million by election day, a record for campaign spending in an Indiana primary. Braun spent $6 million alone in just the first three months of the year. The bulk of that has blanketed Indiana's airwaves with campaign ads. And University of Indianapolis political scientist Laura Merrifield Wilson says all that spending likely ends up helping Braun.
LAURA MERRIFIELD WILSON: The benefit that Braun has in this particular primary is the fact that there are several other candidates that really seem to split the electorate.
SMITH: In the race's limited public polling, Braun has led his next-closest opponent, Crouch, by 20 to 30 points each time. But Wilson notes the number of voters in those polls who say they're undecided is between around 20- to 40%, which she says is why there's still so much money being spent.
WILSON: I think there is still that hope, and we recognize in a gubernatorial primary, probably up until election day, you're going to have at least a portion of undecided voters.
SMITH: Besides, Wilson says, there's no point saving the money for the general election. Indiana hasn't elected a Democrat to any statewide office in 12 years, so the next governor will likely be decided on May 7.
For NPR News, I'm Brandon Smith in Indianapolis. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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