The 2020 Indiana gubernatorial election was won by incumbent Republican

Eric Holcomb Eric Joseph Holcomb ( ; born May 2, 1968) is an American politician who served as the 51st governor of Indiana, from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2016 to 2017 as the 51st Lieuten ...

on November 3, 2020. The election was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

to the

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and various

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and

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

. 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 A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, Suzanne Crouch. He faced Democrat Woody Myers, the former health commissioner of Indiana (and later, of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) and his running mate, Linda Lawson, the former minority leader of the

Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House mem ...

, in addition to

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

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 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. 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

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, 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

, 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 The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be a ...

)

Results

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

Withdrew

* Eddie Melton,

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

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 Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation, United States secretary of transportation from 2021 to 2025. A me ...

, former mayor of

South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

and former

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

presidential

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group (sociology), group or election to an offic ...

Joe Donnelly Joseph Simon Donnelly Sr. (born September 29, 1955) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013 and as a United States Senate, U.S. Senator from 2013 to 2019. A member of t ...

, former U.S. senator *Greg Goodnight, former mayor of Kokomo * John R. Gregg, former speaker of the

, former state representative from the 45th district, and Democratic nominee for governor in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* 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 The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from Indiana's 9th congressional district (endorsed Myers) *

Joe Hogsett Joseph Hadden Hogsett (born November 2, 1956) is an American attorney, prosecutor, and politician who is the 49th mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana. Prior to being elected mayor, Hogsett served as the secretary of state of Indiana from 1989 to 1994 ...

, mayor of

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

* 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 Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

( running for Attorney General)

Results

Libertarian convention

Candidates

Nominee

* Donald Rainwater, U.S. Navy veteran; Libertarian candidate for

Indiana State Senate The Indiana State Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-yea ...

in 2016 and for

in 2018 :*Running mate: William Henry

Eliminated at convention

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

General election

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

Graphical summary

Results

Holcomb won reelection by over 24 percentage points, the biggest margin of victory for an Indiana gubernatorial candidate since

Evan Bayh Birch Evans "Evan" Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American politician who served as the List of governors of Indiana, 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997 and as a United States Senate, United States senator representing Indi ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

as well as the biggest ever for a Republican. Exit polls show Holcomb won over 30% of voters who voted for Democrat

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

for president. This is also one of the strongest performances for a third-party candidate in a statewide election in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, with

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.

By county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican *

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

(largest municipality: Muncie) * Knox (largest municipality:

Vincennes Vincennes (; ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Vincennes is famous for its castle: the Château de Vincennes. It is next to but does not include the ...

) * LaPorte (largest municipality: Michigan City) *

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

(largest municipality: Tell City) *

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

(largest municipality:

Portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...

) * St. Joseph (largest municipality:

) * Sullivan (largest municipality: Sullivan) * Tippecanoe (largest municipality: Lafayette) * Vermillion (largest municipality: Clinton) *

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

(largest municipality: Terre Haute)

By congressional district

Holcomb won seven of nine congressional districts.https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::930472f1-d096-42c0-9e38-10f463ecdb89

Notes

Partisan clients

References

External links

Official campaign websites
Eric Holcomb (R) for Governor

Woody Myers (D) for Governor

Donald Rainwater (L) for Governor
{{US Third Party Election

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

2020 elections in the United States November 2020 in the United States 2020 in Indiana