2012 Indiana gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2012 United States gubernatorial elections.

2012 Indiana gubernatorial election

November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06)

Nominee Mike Pence John R. Gregg Party Republican Democratic Running mate Sue Ellspermann Vi Simpson Popular vote 1,275,424 1,200,016 Percentage 49.49% 46.56%

Pence:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Gregg:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election Mitch Daniels Republican Elected Governor Mike Pence Republican

The 2012 Indiana gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2012. Incumbent governor Mitch Daniels was term-limited and unable to seek a third term. The Republican candidate, Congressman Mike Pence; the Democratic candidate, former Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives John R. Gregg; and the Libertarian candidate, youth mentor, small business owner and reality TV personality, Rupert Boneham, were all unopposed in their respective primaries or conventions and contested the general election. This is the first open Indiana gubernatorial election since 1996 and the first gubernatorial election since 1972 without the governor or lieutenant governor as a nominee.

When the polls closed, the election was very close, and continued to stay close throughout the night. Gregg performed well in Marion County (Indianapolis) and Lake County (Gary), which were Democratic strongholds. Pence performed well in the Indianapolis suburbs and the Fort Wayne area. At 12:34 am EST, the Associated Press called the race for Pence. At 1:06 am, Gregg called Pence to concede, realizing there were not enough votes left to overtake him. Pence ultimately won the election and took office on January 14, 2013. This was the closest race for governor since 1960.

Primaries

Democratic

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

Results

Democratic Indiana gubernatorial election primary in Indiana, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John R. Gregg	207,365	100
Total votes			207,365	100

Libertarian

• Rupert Boneham, four-time contestant on Survivor and founder of Rupert's Kids. Boneham was nominated by delegates at his party's state convention.

General election

Candidates

• Mike Pence (Republican), U.S. Representative

• Running mate: Sue Ellspermann, state Representative

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

• Running mate: Vi Simpson, state Senate Minority Leader

• Rupert Boneham (Libertarian), four-time contestant on Survivor and founder of Rupert's Kids

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

• Donnie Harold Harris (Public Party) (write-in)

• Running mate: George Fish

Debates

The Indiana Debate Commission organized three televised debates between Indiana Gubernatorial candidates Republican Mike Pence, Democrat John R. Gregg and Libertarian Rupert Boneham. Debate schedule
The first debate was held on Wednesday, October 10, 2012, at the Zionsville Performing Arts Center in Zionsville, Indiana and was moderated by former Indianapolis Star editor Dennis Ryerson.

• Complete video of debate, October 10, 2012 - C-SPAN

The second debate was held on Wednesday, October 17, 2012, at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center in South Bend, Indiana and was moderated by Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute president John Ketzenberger.

• Complete video of debate, October 17, 2012 - C-SPAN

The third debate was held on Thursday, October 25, 2012, at the WFWA PBS 39 studio in Fort Wayne, Indiana and was moderated by DePauw University Executive Director of Media Relations Ken Owen.

• Complete video of debate, October 25, 2012 - YouTube

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Likely R	November 1, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Likely R	November 5, 2012
Rothenberg Political Report	Likely R	November 2, 2012
Real Clear Politics	Likely R	November 5, 2012

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mike Pence (R)	John R. Gregg (D)	Rupert Boneham (L)	Other	Undecided
Howey Politics/DePauw	October 28–30, 2012	800	± 3.5%	47%	40%	5%	—	—
Benenson Strategy Group	October 18–21, 2012	701	± 3.7%	44%	38%	6%	—	12%
YouGov	October 4–11, 2012	470	± 5.6%	49%	38%	—	—	13%
Howey Politics/DePauw University	September 19–23, 2012	800	± 3.5%	47%	34%	5%	—	14%
Market Research Insight	August 6–9, 2012	600	± 4%	50%	32%	3%	—	15%
Market Research Insight	March 26–27, 2012	503	± 4.5%	44%	31%	5%	—	20%

Results

State Senate district results

Indiana gubernatorial election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Mike Pence/Sue Ellspermann	1,275,424	49.49%	−8.35%
	Democratic	John R. Gregg/Vi Simpson	1,200,016	46.56%	+6.52%
	Libertarian	Rupert Boneham	101,868	3.95%	+1.83%
	Independent	Donnie Harold Harris (write-in)	21	0.00%	N/A
Total votes			2,577,329	100.0%	N/A
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Delaware (largest city: Muncie)
• Greene (Largest city: Linton)
• Madison (largest city: Anderson)
• Marion (Largest city: Indianapolis)
• Scott (Largest city: Scottsburg)
• Tippecanoe (largest city: Lafayette)
• Vigo (largest city: Terre Haute)

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Switzerland (Largest city: Vevay)

By congressional district

Pence won 6 of 9 congressional districts.

District	Pence	Gregg	Representative
1st	33.61%	63.98%	Pete Visclosky
2nd	50.63%	46.15%	Joe Donnelly (112th Congress)
			Jackie Walorski (113th Congress)
3rd	58.24%	38.77%	Marlin Stutzman
4th	53.82%	40.87%	Todd Rokita
5th	55.34%	40.44%	Dan Burton (112th Congress)
			Susan Brooks (113th Congress)
6th	56.56%	38.49%	Mike Pence (112th Congress)
			Luke Messer (113th Congress)
7th	33.07%	61.73%	André Carson
8th	48.28%	48.69%	Larry Bucshon
9th	53.08%	42.70%	Todd Young

External links

• Election Division Archived November 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine at the Indiana Secretary of State office
• Indiana gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2012 at Ballotpedia

Campaign websites (archived)

• Rupert Boneham for Governor
• John R. Gregg for Governor
• Mike Pence for Governor