2012 Indiana gubernatorial election

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2012 Indiana gubernatorial election

← 2008 November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06) 2016 →
Turnout	57.81%
Nominee Mike Pence John R. Gregg Party Republican Democratic Running mate Sue Ellspermann Vi Simpson Popular vote 1,275,424 1,200,016 Percentage 49.5% 46.6%
County results 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

Elections in Indiana
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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.

Pence narrowly won the election, with it being the closest race for governor since 1960.

Results[]

Candidates[]

• Mike Pence, U.S. Representative^[1]
• John Gregg Member of the Indiana House of Representatives from the 45th district^[2]

Results[]

Republican Indiana gubernatorial election primary in Indiana, 2012^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Pence	1,275,424	49.5%
	Democratic	John Gregg	1,200,016	46.6%
Total votes			2,475,440	96.1% Other Party 3.9%

Democrats[]

Candidates[]

• John R. Gregg, former Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives^[4]

Results[]

Democratic Indiana gubernatorial election primary in Indiana, 2012^[3]

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

Libertarian Party[]

Candidates[]

• Rupert Boneham, four-time contestant on Survivor and founder of Rupert's Kids.^[5] Boneham was nominated by delegates at his party's state convention.^[6]

General election[]

Candidates[]

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

• Running mate: Sue Ellspermann, state Representative^[7][8]

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

• Running mate: Vi Simpson, state Senate Minority Leader^[9]

• 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^[8]

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

• Running mate: George Fish^[10]

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[11]	Likely R	November 1, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12]	Likely R	November 5, 2012
Rothenberg Political Report[13]	Likely R	November 2, 2012
Real Clear Politics[14]	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%

Statewide results[]

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When the polls closed, the election was very close, and continued to stay close throughout the night.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} At 1:06 am, Gregg called Pence to concede, realizing there weren't enough votes left to overtake him.^{[citation needed]} Pence ultimately won the election.

Pence took office on January 13, 2013. This was one of Indiana's closest gubernatorial elections.^{[citation needed]}

Indiana gubernatorial election, 2012^[15]

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

References[]

External links[]

• Election Division 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