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Republican Party of Indiana | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairperson | Lana Keesling |
| Governor of Indiana | Mike Braun |
| Senate Leader | Lt. Gov.Micah Beckwith |
| House Leader | Speaker Todd Huston |
| Merger of | People's Party |
| Headquarters | 101 W. Ohio Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 |
| Student wing | Indiana Federation of College RepublicansIndiana Federation of Young Republicans |
| Ideology | Conservatism Right-wing populism Right-libertarianism |
| Colors | Gold,blue |
| United States Senate delegation | 2 / 2 |
| United States House of Representatives delegation | 7 / 9 |
| Executive Offices | 7 / 7 |
| Indiana State Senate | 40 / 50 |
| Indiana House of Representatives | 70 / 100 |
| Election symbol | |
.svg) | |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheIndiana Republican Party, currently chaired by Lana Keesling and serving as the state affiliate of the national GOP, is the affiliate of theUnited States Republican Party in the state ofIndiana. The party platform emphasizes limited government,fiscal conservatism,traditional family structures, and opposition toabortion.
The party has dominated Indiana politics for most of the state’s history and continues to do so today. It controls all statewide executive offices, bothU.S. Senate seats, seven of Indiana’s nineU.S. House seats, and holds supermajorities in both chambers of thestate legislature.
Historically, Indiana has also been a reliablyRepublican state in presidential elections, deviating only during major national Democratic landslides.
From the late 20th century onward, Indiana consistently supported Republican presidential candidates, except forBarack Obama’s narrow win in 2008. Since 2005, the state has continuously elected Republicangovernors.
Republicans have dominated Indiana politics for most of its history, although Democrats did occasionally do very well in some parts of the state government from the 1960s to the early 2000s.
At the presidential level, the state is also reliably Republican; Indiana voters opted for the Democratic Party only five times since1892, all of which occurred amidst national Democratic landslides. In fact, no Republican has won the presidency without carrying Indiana since1876, when DemocratSamuel Tilden very narrowly carried the state amidst an extremely close (and still disputed) national election.
In theelection of 1860,Abraham Lincoln won all of Indiana's 13 electoral votes with 51.09% of the popular vote.[1] When theAmerican Civil War broke out, Indiana had a strong, pro-South Democratic Party in theIndiana General Assembly that, for the most part, claimed to be pro-Union but anti-abolition. GovernorOliver P. Morton (elected 1861), had a close relationship with Lincoln, who called him the "shrewdest person I know".[2] At the 1862Loyal War Governors Conference inAltoona, Pennsylvania, Morton put his full support behind Lincoln'sEmancipation Proclamation.[3]
A backlash followed the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, leading to a defeat of Republicans in the 1862 midterm elections. Morton feared that the Democratic majority in the General Assembly would be sympathetic to theConfederacy, so he began to take steps to circumvent the General Assembly and mobilize Indiana in the war effort.[4] When Morton stepped beyond the scope of his constitutional powers by establishing a state arsenal, the Democratic legislature moved to switch command of the militia from the Governor to the General Assembly. Fearing that with control of the militia, the Democrats would attempt to secede from the Union, Morton helped Republican legislators to flee to Kentucky and prevent aquorum.[5] Unable to pass appropriations bills, the paralyzed government of Indiana teetered on bankruptcy until Morton once again stepped out of the scope of his powers and acquired millions of dollars in federal and private loans to keep the government running, support Indiana's role in the war effort, and circumvent the Democratic Assembly.[6]
For the remainder of the Civil War, Morton made efforts to keep Indiana secure by suppressing elements he saw as anti-union or sympathetic to the South. The searches, arrests, and even disruption of the Democratic State Convention in what would later be called theBattle of Pogue's Run earned Morton much criticism and he was called a "dictator" and "underhanded mobster". As the war ended and the Republican Party received an overwhelming majority in the government, Morton's questionable conduct during the war was moot and he continued to serve a second term in the US Senate until 1877.[7]
The party's darkest stain was afterWorld War I, following a rush of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe into the United States. By this period of time, the Indiana Republican Party, like the Republican Party elsewhere, had given up its former goal of African-American rights. Unlike the firstKu Klux Klan that rose in the South during theReconstruction era to terrorize both white and black Republicans, the new Klan that started in Georgia in 1915 was a highlynativist organization. Staunchly anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, antisemitic, and prejudiced against African Americans, the new Klan spread into Indiana in the 1920s underGrand DragonD.C. Stephenson.[8] The second KKK was almost exclusively Republican in Midwestern states such as Indiana as well as in northern and western states such as Maine and Colorado, although the KKK remained exclusively Democratic in the South. Under Stephenson's leadership, the Klan flourished in Indiana and took over both the governor's office and much of the Republican Party in the General Assembly.[9] With over 250,000 white males (approximately forty-percent of Indiana's population) paying Klan dues in Indiana, Stephenson amassed a fortune estimated from two to five million dollars.[10] In 1922. the Klan-dominated General Assembly passed a Klan Day in theIndiana State Fair, but Republican GovernorWarren T. McCray vetoed the bill, earning the ire of Stephenson and the Klan.
In the 1924 Republican primary elections in Indiana, almost all candidates nominated for statewide office were Klansmen. One African-American newspaper said, "the Ku Klux Klan has captured boot and breeches, the Republican party in Indiana and have [sic] turned what has been historically an organization of constitutional freedom into an agency for the promotion of religious and racial hate. Nobody now denies the Ku Klux Klan is the dominating power in Indiana Republican politics. In fact, the Republican party exists in Indiana today only in name. Its place has been usurped by the Klan purposes and leadership and issues." Most Indiana blacks in 1924 cast their first-ever ballot for the Democratic Party, which had passed a resolution denouncing the KKK in its platform, though without mentioning the Klan by name.[11] Blacks in other areas of the United States, in contrast, generally remained Republican until the 1930s. Despite the influx of blacks into the Democratic party, Klansmen won most of the Indiana legislature and most statewide offices in the November 1924 general elections. However, once in office, the Klan-controlled legislature passed little to no anti-black, anti-Jewish, or anti-Catholic legislation.
The peak of the Klan's power and influence was in the early 1920s, when the Klan had Governor McCray arrested, imprisoned, and thrown out of office on a charge of mail fraud. RepublicanEdward Jackson, a KKK member was elected in the 1924 election. Stephenson became infamous for his words "I am the law in Indiana."[12]
The Klan quickly fell apart under the revelation that Stephenson had abducted, raped, and murdered a young woman. More of a populist organization that believed in the Klan's image of defending the race and "Protestant Womanhood," the Klan's power and influence in both Indiana and its politics dissolved quickly. Governor Jackson refused to pardon his old ally Stephenson, so Stephenson retaliated from prison by revealing evidence that Jackson had received bribes from the Klan. Despite calls for his resignation for being associated with the Klan, Jackson's trial resulted in ahung jury.[8]
From 1972 to 1988 the Republican Party candidate for president won over 50% of Indiana’s popular vote, breaking only in1992 when independent candidateRoss Perot siphoned votes away from both DemocratBill Clinton and RepublicanGeorge H.W. Bush, and again in1996 against Clinton andBob Dole. Perot won 19.77% of the vote in 1992 and 10.56% in 1996. Clinton lost Indiana in1996 by only six percentage points. George W. Bush swung Indiana more firmly to the Republican side once again during his successful campaign in 2000, defeating DemocratAl Gore by over 15 points in the state. Bush increased his margin of victory even more in 2004, defeating DemocratJohn Kerry by 20 percentage points, 5 points better than his first presidential run. Bush consolidated and accrued large margins in the state's abundant rural counties, sometimes winning 70-80% of the vote in those areas. Democrats were competitive only inLake,Monroe,LaPorte, andMarion (home to Indianapolis) counties during the Bush years.
In2008, Democratic nomineeBarack Obama surprisingly won the state by a 1.03% margin over RepublicanJohn McCain, the first time a Democrat won the state sinceLyndon Johnson in 1964. Obama made several large inroads in the state's rural counties. McCain still won most of these counties, but the fact that Obama made inroads contributed to his overall victory . Also many counties in Indiana’s blue collar northwest swung away from McCain. This election was considered an upset due to the state’s traditional Republican lean. The state was back to voting Republican in the 2012 presidential election, breaking forMit Romney by more than ten points.
Donald Trump and his running mate, Indiana nativeMike Pence, won the state over DemocratHillary Clinton by a 20-point margin of victory, improving on Romney’s margin mainly due to third-party candidates in the 2016 election and the fact that Pence was on the ticket. In his unsuccessful2020 reelection campaign, Trump won the state, albeit by three points less than in 2016, over DemocratJoe Biden.
In2024, Trump won Indiana for a third time in a row over DemocratKamala Harris, winning by a margin of 19 points, an increase over his 2020 margins but just under his 2016 margins.
Indiana has had a Republican governor since 2005.[13]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2024) |
The 2012 party platform contains the party's official stances on key issues, economic, political and social.[14]
The first section of the platform states that the liberties guaranteed to us in the Constitution and Bill of Rights must be protected from erosion by government. The platform then states a commitment to "protecting and defending our U.S. and Indiana Constitutions," "fiscal responsibility," "federalism," "strong family structures," "individual responsibility," "personal liberty and freedom," "free and fair elections" and "volunteerism."[15]
The Indiana GOP concurs with the current Indiana law that "childbirth is preferred, encouraged, and supported over abortion."
The party also believes that "strong families are the foundation of virtue and that such families bring forth citizens capable of self-government as well as properly motivated public servants so essential for a successful republic."[15]
It stands by the national Republican Party that "limited government truly is good government" and states that the proper role of government is to get out of the way of entrepreneurs and job creators.
The party also supports paying down debt, balancing budgets, and lowering taxes coupled with a simplified tax code.
The Indiana Republican Party supports the use of Hoosier resources, including expanded clean coal technology, as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil.
The platform states the belief of Indiana Republicans that Obamacare should be repealed and replaced with free market solutions.
One amendment was approved and added at the 2012 State Convention; "The Indiana Republican Party shall seek transparency, accountability and fairness in all levels of government, including a comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve."[15]
The Indiana Republican Party controls both U.S. Senate seats and seven of nine U.S. House seats. Republicans control all seven of the seven statewide constitutional offices. The party currently hold a majority in both the Indiana House of Representatives and the Indiana Senate.
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| District | Member | Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd | Rudy Yakym |  |
| 3rd | Marlin Stutzman |  |
| 4th | James Baird |  |
| 5th | Victoria Spartz |  |
| 6th | Jefferson Shreve |  |
| 8th | Mark Messmer |  |
| 9th | Erin Houchin |  |
| Election | Gubernatorial candidate | Votes | Vote % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Linley E. Pearson | 822,533 | 36.90% | Lost N |
| 1996 | Stephen Goldsmith | 986,982 | 46.78% | LostN |
| 2000 | David McIntosh | 908,285 | 41.68% | LostN |
| 2004 | Mitch Daniels | 1,302,912 | 53.21% | Won Y |
| 2008 | Mitch Daniels | 1,563,885 | 57.84% | WonY |
| 2012 | Mike Pence | 1,275,424 | 49.49% | WonY |
| 2016 | Eric Holcomb | 1,397,396 | 51.38% | WonY |
| 2020 | Eric Holcomb | 1,706,727 | 56.51% | WonY |
| 2024 | Mike Braun | 1,566,081 | 54.38% | WonY |
