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Former IEDC head Brad Chambers announces bid for Indiana governor [1]

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Date: 2023-08-17

After months of speculation, former Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers has officially entered the Republican primary for governor.

He stepped down from his post Aug. 6 as commerce secretary and head of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. Thursday, he joins a packed race that includes Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, former Attorney General Curtis Hill and another former head of the IEDC, Eric Doden.

"As Indiana's Secretary of Commerce, the last two years, I have witnessed firsthand how important leadership, vision, urgency and aspiration are to the future of Indiana," Chambers said in a news release. "I am running for Governor because I want Hoosiers of today and Hoosiers of tomorrow to believe that Indiana offers an opportunity for an excellent life."

More:Why this year's Indiana governor's race could mark a 'tipping point' for Republicans

Gov. Eric Holcomb appointed Chambers to lead the IEDC in 2021. Chambers had worked in the real estate world for four decades as founder and CEO of Indianapolis-based real estate investing firm Buckingham Companies. This is his first political campaign.

Now he'll have to find a lane for himself aside candidates who, arguably, have far more name recognition among the average primary voter and have had quite the head start on fundraising. Three of them, Crouch, Braun and Doden, are miles ahead, each having around $4 million in the bank.

Plus, the percentage of votes that candidates need to snag the largest piece of the primary pie just got lower.

More:More than $5M flows into Indiana governor's race

Out the gate, Chambers is branding himself as a business enterpreneur with an ambitious vision buffered by a term with the IEDC that saw record capital investments for the state ― $33 billion during his two years. Many of those investments are in industries Indiana hadn't invested in before, such as microelectronics and electric vehicles.

How will Brad Chambers differentiate himself?

There's already a former IEDC leader and real estate investor in the race, and he jumped in more than two years ago. Doden has put a lot of money into increasing his name recognition, both by hitting ground across the state and recently launching the first TV ad of the race.

So Chambers would have a lot of catching up to do.

"Does the average Indiana Republican primary voter have previously informed opinions about his work?" said Greg Shufeldt, politics professor at the University of Indianapolis. "Otherwise he might be starting as a complete unknown."

One of Doden's campaign pitches is revitalizing Main Streets across Indiana as an economic development strategy for the state. As IEDC head under former Gov. Mike Pence, his signature project was the Regional Cities initiative ― a program in which the state provides funding matches to local communities who partner together on regional economic development plans.

Under Chambers' reign, one of IEDC's most pivotal projects has been the LEAP district in Boone County: a massive investment that signals a huge shift in strategy for the IEDC, which has historically supported projects spearheaded by local governments. The LEAP district strategy involves the state taking charge and spending hundreds of millions of dollars acquiring land so it can hand over shovel-ready projects to big-name, high-tech companies.

It's possible the two could compete for votes, which would only benefit others in the race, like Braun or Crouch. But, Shufeldt noted, this is still the "invisible primary" stage where average voters aren't yet paying attention and there's plenty of time for candidates to drop out.

How other candidates are reacting

Other candidates in the race clearly aren't dismissing Chambers' candidacy, and in fact have made moves to pre-emptively differentiate themselves from him.

Crouch made two statements in early August that were vaguely critical of Chambers' landmark project, the LEAP district.

While making it clear she is "not opposed to the LEAP district," she said in one tweet there are growing concerns over the loss of farmland as a result and that she asked the Department of Agriculture to conduct an economic analysis. In another, citing a WTHR article exploring the plan to divert millions of gallons of water from the Wabash Valley to the LEAP district, she said she would order a review of the state's water policies if elected governor.

And Doden already appears to be trying to brand himself as more than just an economic development candidate. His first TV ad released last week, called "Grandson of a Preacher," talks faith and family before mentioning his experience creating jobs.

The Indiana primary election is May 7, 2024.

Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17.

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[1] Url: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/08/17/indiana-governors-race-iedc-brad-chambers-campaign-election-2024/70543004007/

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