INDIANAPOLIS – Women have never held top positions in Indiana, but their record as the state’s second-in-command appears to be strengthening heading into the fall elections.
Indiana is one of 18 states that has never elected a woman governor, according to the Rutgers Center for American Women in Politics, even though four of the state’s last five lieutenant governors have been women. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick will face an uphill battle against U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, who defeated Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch in this week’s competitive and expensive GOP gubernatorial primary.
The day after his victory, Braun announced state representative Julie McGuire as his choice for lieutenant governor. If party delegates support her, McGuire will become the last number two woman in Indiana.
“Braun will likely be the next governor, McGuire’s selection continues that legacy,” said Laura Merrifield Wilson, a political science professor at the University of Indianapolis. governor.”
Just two years ago, McGuire unseated Republican John Jacob, who had angered members of his party, in part, by repeatedly pushing for a total ban on abortion. Indiana law only allows abortion in rare and limited circumstances.
Running with a woman on his ticket also gives Braun “diversity credibility,” Wilson said, as well as partial credibility against potential attacks from McCormick, his Democratic opponent. But it does little to help him win votes in November, Wilson said.
Influential Republicans have begun to fall in line behind Braun and his pick, although McGuire faces an unusual campaign for lieutenant governor from a conservative Noblesville pastor ahead of the June 15 Republican convention. Delegates generally opt to choose the candidate for governor.
A staunchly conservative lawmaker herself, McGuire’s political record shows a focus on education. Braun, who entered national politics in 2018, likely chose McGuire for his recent legislative experience and connections on the floor, Wilson said.
The lieutenant governor holds little constitutional power, but is first in the line of succession if the governor is unable to perform the duties of the office. The lieutenant governor oversees four state agencies and ceremonially presides over the state Senate.
Kathy Davis was the first woman to hold the position. Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan, who stepped down as lieutenant governor after his predecessor died in office, appointed her in 2003.
Davis was on Kernan’s ticket in 2004 when he lost to Republican Mitch Daniels and his running mate Becky Skillman. Skillman considered running for governor at the end of Daniels’ second term, but withdrew citing “minor health concerns” at the time.
“After I said I wouldn’t do it, I was at peace,” Skillman told the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in 2019. “My saddest moment was that I may have let a lot of women down.”
Skillman’s departure left a clear path to Mike Pence’s 2012 gubernatorial nomination alongside Sue Ellspermann. But she resigned before the end of her first term and Pence appointed Eric Holcomb to the position of lieutenant governor. Holcomb succeeded Pence and is completing his second and final term as governor.
Crouch’s run for governor this year is arguably the closest Indiana has come to putting a woman in the state’s highest office. She was considered the likely runner-up in the entire race thanks to her statewide name recognition and fundraising.
But in a crowded field, Crouch finished 18 points behind Braun, who had similar qualities and the coveted endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who carried the state by 16 points in his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden.
Even as she presented herself as a political outsider, Crouch relied on her decades-long career in public office, including two terms in the Holcomb administration. She rarely invoked her gender in her candidacy.
Crouch said in a recent interview that she has seen the visibility of women in government fluctuate. She became auditor in 2014, and women held the majority of elected positions statewide for the next eight years.
But she noted that there are still meetings where she is the only woman present and that about a quarter of Indiana lawmakers are women.
“People would be better served if our government reflected our population,” she told The Associated Press before Tuesday’s primary.
