2020 Indiana gubernatorial election


The 2020 Indiana gubernatorial election was won by incumbent Republican Eric Holcomb on November 3, 2020. The election was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
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, Suzanne Crouch. He faced Democrat Woody Myers, the former health commissioner of Indiana and his running mate, Linda Lawson, the former minority leader of the Indiana House of Representatives, in addition to Libertarian 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. 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 COVID-19 pandemic, 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

Removed from ballot

  • Brian Roth, businessman

Declined

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrew

Declined

Libertarian convention

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated at convention

General election

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Eric
Holcomb 		Woody
Myers 		Donald
Rainwater 		Other /
Undecided
CygnalOctober 21–23, 2020600 ± 4%47%29%15%10%
Ragnar Research October 18–21, 2020529 ± 4%52%26%14%8%
SurveyUSAOctober 10–13, 2020527 ± 5.2%55%25%10%11%
BK Strategies October 4–5, 2020600 ± 4%60%21%8%11%
Change ResearchSeptember 3–7, 20201,033 ± 3.1%36%30%24%10%
BK Strategies May 20–21, 2020600 ± 4%64%21%–15%
Change ResearchApril 10–13, 20201,021 ± 3.1%45%25%8%22%

Results

Holcomb won reelection by over 24 percentage points, the biggest margin of victory for an Indiana gubernatorial candidate since Evan Bayh in 1992 as well as the biggest ever for a Republican. Exit polls show Holcomb won over 30% of voters who voted for Democrat Joe Biden for president. This is also one of the strongest performances for a third-party candidate in a statewide election in Indiana, with Libertarian 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

By congressional district

Holcomb won seven of nine congressional districts.
DistrictHolcombMyersRainwaterRepresentative
47%48%6%Frank J. Mrvan
59%31%10%Jackie Walorski
62%24%13%Jim Banks
59%25%16%Jim Baird
56%34%10%Victoria Spartz
63%22%15%Greg Pence
37%53%10%André Carson
65%25%10%Larry Bucshon
58%30%12%Trey Hollingsworth