Eric Holcomb

Eric Joseph Holcomb (born May 2, 1968) is an American politician who has served since 2017 as the 51st governor of Indiana.

He graduated from Pike High School in Indianapolis, and in 1990 from Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana.

At Hanover, he joined the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta and served as chapter president.

Holcomb served in the United States Navy for six years, first at Naval Station Great Lakes and later in Florida and Portugal.

Holcomb began working for John Hostettler, a member of the United States House of Representatives, in 1997.

In 2000, Holcomb ran for the Indiana House of Representatives against John Frenz, but was defeated.

From 2003 to 2011, Holcomb served as an advisor to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, eventually rising to the role of Deputy Chief of Staff, and served as campaign manager for Daniels's 2008 gubernatorial campaign.

He became Chairman of the Indiana Republican Party in 2011.

They faced 2012 Democratic nominee and former Indiana House Speaker John R. Gregg and his running mate, State Representative Christina Hale.

After an unprecedented 106-day campaign, Holcomb defeated Gregg, 51.4% to 45.4%.

He ran slightly behind the Trump-Pence ticket, which carried Indiana with 56 percent of the vote.

In 2013, he resigned to become the state chief of staff to U.S. Senator Dan Coats.

In March 2015 Coats announced that he would not run for reelection to the Senate in the 2016 election, and Holcomb announced his intention to run.

A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 51st lieutenant governor of Indiana from 2016 to 2017 under Governor Mike Pence, who left the governorship in 2017 to become the vice president of the United States.

Holcomb was nominated to fill the remainder of Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann's term after she resigned on March 2, 2016, to become president of Ivy Tech Community College.

He won the 2016 election for governor of Indiana over Democratic nominee John R. Gregg.

In February 2016, Holcomb withdrew from the Senate race.

After Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann announced her resignation, Governor Mike Pence chose Holcomb to succeed her and to be his running mate in the 2016 gubernatorial election.

Holcomb was sworn in as lieutenant governor on March 3, 2016.

Governor Mike Pence was running for reelection with Holcomb as his running mate in the spring and summer of 2016.

By late June, rumors that Pence would be the Republican Party's nominee for vice president under presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump began to gain traction.

In early July, Trump officially selected Pence as his running mate.

Pence then withdrew from Indiana's gubernatorial election and Holcomb withdrew as the nominee for lieutenant governor.

Holcomb decided to pursue the nomination for governor and was selected on the second ballot by the Indiana State Republican Central Committee, defeating Rep. Susan Brooks, Rep. Todd Rokita, and State Senator Jim Tomes.

Holcomb chose Indiana State Auditor Suzanne Crouch as his running mate.

Holcomb's international engagement strategy has resulted in foreign direct investment (FDI) into Indiana increasing 300% since 2017.

He received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters Degree from Trine University on October 5, 2018, an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Anderson University on May 11, 2019, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters Degree from Rose-Hulman on May 30, 2020.

In recognition of his efforts, the Indianapolis-based International Center named Holcomb its 2018 International Citizen of the Year.

Holcomb was reelected in 2020 over Democratic nominee Woody Myers and Libertarian nominee Donald Rainwater.

Holcomb was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Holcomb was reelected governor in 2020, defeating former state health commissioner Woody Myers with 57% of the vote.

He received the most votes for governor in Indiana history.

After winning the election, Holcomb announced his agenda for the upcoming Indiana General Assembly legislative session.

What Holcomb calls his “Next Level Agenda” is based on five “pillars”: strengthening and diversifying Indiana's economy, strengthening Indiana's infrastructure, strengthening education and workforce training, strengthening public health and attacking addiction and providing great government service at an exceptional value to taxpayers.

He has said that civility is the foundation on which the other pillars are based.

Holcomb's first act as governor was creating the office of drug prevention, treatment and enforcement and tasking that office with tackling the opioid crisis and other addiction issues in Indiana.

Additionally, early in his first term, Holcomb pardoned Keith Cooper, who served eight years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of an armed robbery; declared a disaster emergency at the East Chicago Superfund Site; and ended contract discussions between the Indiana Finance Authority and Agile Networks to manage Indiana's communications infrastructure, including cell towers.

Holcomb has made attracting international investment and opening more overseas markets for Hoosier-produced goods a priority.

Since taking office, he has led 11 international economic development trips visiting with government, business, education, military and nonprofit leaders in the United Kingdom (as governor-elect), France, Hungary, Japan, India, Canada, Israel, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, South Korea and China.

He has also visited Hoosier servicemen and women and members of the United States Diplomatic Corps serving overseas.