MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — Eric Holcomb stopped by my office above the Old Point Tavern to shoot the breeze in the spring of 2015. Holcomb had a Starbucks cup of coffee in his hand, and as he crossed his long legs he revealed a hole in the sole of one of his well-worn boots. He had been pounding the pavement and bending ears about his future.
Holcomb had been on U.S. Sen. Dan Coats’s staff after 10 years with Gov. Mitch Daniels, where he was deputy chief of staff, managed his reelection campaign and served a stint as state GOP chair.
Holcomb was full of stories, like the time he needed GOP files and found a recalcitrant clerk in southern Indiana in her office who was on mosey time. Holcomb found a nearby flower shop and then delivered a bouquet to her desk, suggesting he’d come back after lunch. When he did, the files awaited.
He was one of Daniels’ legendary Statehouse enforcers, but he could spoon up ample sugar when the situation required.
Eric Holcomb had been diligently working the back channels of state government and the Republican Party in those days. When Gov. Daniels launched the Major Moves highway initiative, it was Holcomb who worked labor unions for support.
When Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama addressed the Indiana Democratic Jefferson-Jackson Dinner just before the Indiana May 2008 presidential primary, the sponsor banners on either side of the stage featured Sheet Metal Workers union chief Jay Potesta and Building Trades leader Tom O’Donnell. Both had endorsed the Republican Daniels’ reelection bid in a move that had Holcomb’s fingerprints all over it.
“Have you ever thought about running for office?” I later asked Holcomb as we shared pints of Guinness downstairs.
The answer would emphatically come later that year when he and his wife Janet kicked off a campaign for the U.S. Senate. Then he got a Valentine’s Day 2016 call from Gov. Mike Pence, who was seeking a new lieutenant governor.
The Pence-Holcomb ticket would be transformed when Donald Trump finally selected the Hoosier governor as his veep just minutes before the deadline to withdraw from the ticket approached.
What commenced was a crazy week in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention, where Holcomb, U.S. Reps. Todd Rokita and Susan Brooks and state Sen. Jim Tomes twisted arms in hotel alcoves to replace Pence. Holcomb would win on the second ballot. He built a pay-as-you-go effort with a 100% burn rate, ultimately pulling off a come-from-behind upset over Democrat John Gregg in November.
“It was like building an airplane in flight,” Holcomb explained. “It was kind of a bumpy ride.”
Three weeks after winning the gubernatorial nomination, I traveled with Lt. Gov. Holcomb to Lake County and then LaPorte. When we reached LaPorte City Hall word came of a devastating tornado had struck Kokomo.
What commenced was a 100-mph beeline down U.S. 31 with Holcomb riding shotgun, constantly monitoring his phone and making calls.
I observed: “He is a constant font of good cheer. He is curious and engaged. He tends to find a good balance of levity and humor. His staff time with Gov. Daniels and Sen. Coats has given him a good grasp of where the levers of power are and how they can be effectively used. Holcomb works easily with those from the other side of the aisle. He looks for alliances where others tend to find opponents and suspicion.”
After taking office, there would be plenty of other bumpy flights. The state was just recovering from a decade-long battle with clandestine methamphetamine labs. Now Holcomb was confronted with an opioid epidemic. Three years later came the COVID-19 pandemic that would infect two million Hoosiers and kill more than 25,000.
While Holcomb and his health team held weekly press conferences, the political heat came from the right when he ordered businesses and churches to close. There were promises of political retribution, but when the votes were counted in November 2020, Holcomb received a record 1.7 million (56.5%).
At an Indiana Northwest Forum “Salute” to Gov. Holcomb, Gary Mayor Eddie Melton said the governor “had helped write a new chapter for this region. You have realized the strength of Indiana lies in all its cities and towns.”
Mayor Melton then asked, “Has anyone here ever flown in a helicopter?”
The Democrat followed up, “So the only time I’ve ever flown in a helicopter — something I said I would never do — was with the governor. I did it and I was scared as hell the entire way. It was swaying left and right, and he was just sitting there cool as a cucumber.”
After the tribute, the Indiana State Police detail delivered us to a waiting chopper. But there was a problem that was “digital” in nature. Five minutes later, we were cleared for liftoff.
Mayor Melton’s words were ringing in my head. I didn’t want to wuss out, so I took the flight. I probably had a look on my face similar to the one movie director Woody Allen had when he was driving to the airport with Annie Hall’s suicidal brother.
Off into the night we went. Holcomb was cucumber cool, as the helicopter did what Melton had described, swaying back and forth and bouncing along above the thousands of Christmas lights that adorned many homes below.
Howey is a senior writer for Howey Politics Indiana and State Affairs.Find Howey on X @hwypol.
