Indiana gubernatorial election, 2008

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Indiana gubernatorial election, 2008
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←  2004 November 4, 2008 2012  →

  Mitch Daniels.jpg Jill Long.jpg
Nominee Mitch Daniels Jill Long Thompson
Party Republican Democratic
Running mate Becky Skillman Dennie Oxley
Popular vote1,563,8851,082,463
Percentage57.8%40.1%
Indiana Governor Election Results by County, 2008.svg
Results by county:
Daniels:
     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Thompson:
     40-50%     50–60%     60–70%
Governor before election

Mitch Daniels
Republican

Elected Governor

Mitch Daniels
Republican

The Indiana gubernatorial election of 2008 was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican nominee Mitch Daniels was challenged by Democratic nominee Jill Long Thompson and Libertarian nominee Andy Horning. Daniels easily won reelection, defeating Long Thompson by over 17 points.

Mitch Daniels Governor of Indiana and President of Purdue University

Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician who served as the 49th Governor of Indiana, from 2005 to 2013, and a Republican. Since 2013, Daniels has been president of Purdue University.

Jill Long Thompson American politician and academic

Jill Lynette Long Thompson is an American politician and educator. A former Congresswoman from Indiana, she teaches ethics as a Visiting Associate Clinical Professor at the Kelley School of Business and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington. Until 2015 she was board chair and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration, a position to which she was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009. Long Thompson completed her tenure there in March 2015. The first person in her family to graduate from college, she earned a B.S. Degree in business administration at Valparaiso University and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in business at Indiana University. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Contents

Timeline

May 6, 2008 – Democratic and Republican primary elections.

October 6, 2008 – Deadline for voter registration for the General election.

November 4, 2008 – General election.

Primaries

Democratic

On the Democratic side, Indianapolis businessman Jim Schellinger and former U.S. Representative Jill Long Thompson announced their candidacies. Indiana Senate Minority Leader Richard Young also ran early, but dropped out of the race well before the primary. Schellinger raised over $1 million in campaign funds, with support of key Democratic officials such as former Indiana House Speaker John R. Gregg, former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and U.S. Representative Julia Carson. [1] Long Thompson's support came from Democrats such as popular former U.S. Representative Andrew Jacobs, Jr. and former Indiana First Lady Maggie Kernan. [2]

Jim Schellinger is the Secretary of Commerce for the state of Indiana.

John R. Gregg American politician

John Richard Gregg is an American businessman, attorney, author, and politician from Indiana. He was a state representative in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1986 to 2003, serving as Majority Leader from 1990 to 1994, Minority Leader for a term, and as the 85th and longest-serving Democratic Speaker of the Indiana House from 1996 to 2003.

Bart Peterson American mayor

Barton "Bart" R. Peterson is an American lawyer and politician who served as mayor of the U.S city of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a past president of the National League of Cities. A Democrat first elected in 1999, he was defeated in 2007 in a bid for a third term in what was widely viewed as a huge upset.

The contest was very close. The difference between the two was 13,769 votes out of over 1.1 million cast, a difference of 1.1%. Both Long Thompson and Schellinger won various counties from many different political geographies of the state. Schellinger narrowly beat Long Thompson in heavily populated Marion County, home of Indianapolis. Long Thompson trounced Schellinger in Allen County, home of Fort Wayne, the second most populous city in the state. Many attribute her very narrow statewide victory to her strong performance in Allen County. Schellinger also did well in Evansville and the Indianapolis suburbs. Long Thompson and Schellinger basically split the rural vote. It was one of the closest statewide primaries in state history, and also had the highest turnout of any Indiana non-presidential primary. Schellinger called Long Thompson around 5 a.m. the day after the election to concede. He pledged her his full support.

Democratic primary results [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Jill Long Thompson582,86050.60
Democratic Jim Schellinger569,09149.40
Total votes1,151,951100.00

On June 16, Long Thompson announced that her running mate and the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor would be longtime State Representative Dennie Oxley. [4]

Dennie Ray Oxley II is an American politician who was a Democratic member of the Indiana House of Representatives, representing the 73rd District from 1998 until 2008. He had served as Democratic Whip. Oxley was succeeded by his father, also named Dennie. He ran for Lieutenant Governor of Indiana with Jill Long Thompson in the Indiana gubernatorial election, 2008, but lost to Mitch Daniels and Becky Skillman in a landslide.

Republican

On June 16, 2007, incumbent Governor Mitch Daniels announced he was running for reelection with his Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman. He was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Becky Skillman American politician

Rebecca S. Skillman is an American politician who served as the 49th Lieutenant Governor of the State of Indiana, from 2005 to 2013. She is a member of the Republican Party. She was sworn in on January 10, 2005.

Republican primary results [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Mitch Daniels (Incumbent)350,390100.00
Total votes350,390100.00

Libertarian

Andy Horning, an engineer, Libertarian Party activist and frequent candidate, ran unopposed for his party's nomination. He appeared on the November ballot with Lisa Kelly as running mate.

General election

Debates

Three debates organized by the Indiana Debate Commission were held: [5]

Polling

Polling had largely shown Daniels with a slight lead over both Long Thompson and Schellinger. Long Thompson later slipped further behind Daniels in most polls. In the last polls before the election, conducted by Public Policy Polling (November 2, 2008), Daniels led Long Thompson 60% to 37%.

Statewide results

2008 Indiana gubernatorial election [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Republican Mitch Daniels / Becky Skillman (Incumbent)1,563,88557.8%+4.6
Democratic Jill Long Thompson/Dennie Oxley 1,082,46340.1%-5.4
Libertarian Andy Horning 57,3762.1%+0.8
No party Write-Ins 270.0%—
Majority481,422
Turnout 2,703,75162%
Republican hold Swing

County results

Daniels won 79 of Indiana's counties compared to 13 for Long Thompson. [8]

CountyDanielsVotesLong ThompsonVotesOthersVotesTotal
Adams 61.3%8,29136.5%4,9382.2%29413,523
Allen 61.0%89,93837.3%55,0271.7%2,449147,414
Bartholomew 70.6%21,54727.7%8,4471.7%53330,527
Benton 62.8%2,39834.3%1,3082.9%1093,815
Blackford 57.2%3,09841.0%2,2211.8%975,416
Boone 80.5%21,35217.5%4,6332.0%54026,525
Brown 61.3%4,96735.6%2,8803.1%2508,097
Carroll 63.8%5,58633.4%2,9252.8%2418,752
Cass 56.3%8,83140.9%6,4182.8%43315,682
Clark 60.7%28,62237.9%17,8211.4%68247,125
Clay 52.7%5,98644.6%5,0552.7%31211,353
Clinton 67.7%8,32229.8%3,6582.5%30612,286
Crawford 38.9%1,86959.7%2,8691.4%684,806
Daviess 58.5%6,04338.5%3,9783.0%31010,331
Dearborn 67.3%14,53630.3%6,5402.4%51921,595
Decatur 72.8%7,48624.6%2,5342.6%27010,290
DeKalb 57.1%9,56240.4%6,7522.5%42416,738
Delaware 56.5%27,87641.7%20,5881.8%89549,359
Dubois 54.3%9,94643.3%7,9382.4%44518,329
Elkhart 57.8%40,98339.7%28,1142.5%1,74070,837
Fayette 58.2%5,37339.8%3,6702.0%1809,223
Floyd 62.3%22,47136.1%13,0201.6%57636,067
Fountain 58.5%4,35037.9%2,8163.6%2697,435
Franklin 61.6%6,44335.2%3,6743.2%33710,454
Fulton 58.7%5,30938.6%3,4932.7%2479,049
Gibson 60.1%9,08738.1%5,7571.8%27015,114
Grant 61.8%16,00636.4%9,4311.8%46225,899
Greene 50.1%6,75646.5%6,2613.4%46413,481
Hamilton 83.3%106,57415.2%19,4421.5%1,863127,879
Hancock 77.1%26,39520.6%7,0532.0%80034,248
Harrison 56.9%10,27741.2%7,4471.9%34218,066
Hendricks 77.1%49,49020.9%13,3812.0%1,30164,172
Henry 57.1%12,14240.1%8,5192.8%58921,250
Howard 61.6%23,85236.5%14,1431.9%75538,750
Huntington 65.7%10,55532.0%5,1392.3%37716,071
Jackson 56.0%9,72941.5%7,2182.5%43317,380
Jasper 54.1%6,73743.5%5,4192.4%29612,452
Jay 57.0%4,76340.8%3,4042.2%1808,347
Jefferson 51.1%6,67147.0%6,1271.9%24213,040
Jennings 51.1%6,01645.7%5,3733.2%38111,770
Johnson 77.4%44,74320.4%11,8132.2%1,27957,835
Knox 46.0%7,11952.8%8,1651.2%37615,464
Kosciusko 67.5%19,90130.0%8,8252.5%75129,477
LaGrange 57.3%5,44139.3%3,7273.4%3229,490
Lake 34.6%66,14564.0%122,1111.4%2,748191,004
LaPorte 33.9%15,49563.4%28,9222.7%1,24145,658
Lawrence 57.5%10,50439.8%7,2812.7%49518,280
Madison 59.7%34,02838.3%21,7762.0%1,12056,924
Marion 55.5%209,95542.5%160,3182.0%7,377377,650
Marshall 56.8%10,31441.0%7,4472.2%39418,155
Martin 55.4%2,71441.5%2,0303.1%1534,897
Miami 58.1%7,81638.4%5,1743.5%46913,459
Monroe 47.3%28,48249.8%30,0262.9%1,76460,272
Montgomery 74.2%11,30423.7%3,6052.1%31715,226
Morgan 70.0%19,81826.8%7,5703.2%90828,296
Newton 49.9%2,99947.0%2,8223.1%1866,007
Noble 56.0%9,40841.3%6,9512.7%45316,812
Ohio 55.4%1,59041.8%1,1972.8%802,867
Orange 50.6%4,04647.0%3,7602.4%1927,998
Owen 57.9%4,71737.8%3,0744.3%3478,138
Parke 50.6%3,55346.1%3,2403.3%2357,028
Perry 37.7%3,16961.1%5,1331.2%988,400
Pike 48.1%2,85049.3%2,9242.6%1575,931
Porter 43.1%31,38854.4%39,5192.5%1,80272,709
Posey 62.7%7,98336.0%4,5921.3%16412,739
Pulaski 53.6%3,09643.7%2,5242.7%1535,773
Putnam 65.6%9,44332.0%4,5972.4%34614,386
Randolph 59.5%6,26837.8%3,9872.7%28010,535
Ripley 60.8%7,34735.9%4,3423.3%40212,091
Rush 66.6%5,07130.3%2,3113.1%2377,619
Saint Joseph 47.8%56,17650.5%59,2591.7%1,978117,413
Scott 49.5%4,41448.5%4,3302.0%1808,924
Shelby 67.2%11,77430.0%5,2592.8%48917,522
Spencer 54.8%5,52743.9%4,4181.3%13410,079
Starke 47.0%4,33951.3%4,7261.7%1619,226
Steuben 55.9%7,89641.3%5,8222.8%40214,120
Sullivan 40.5%3,46355.9%4,7793.6%3118,553
Switzerland 47.6%1,73048.9%1,7763.5%1263,632
Tippecanoe 61.9%41,74035.6%23,9802.5%1,71067,430
Tipton 67.0%5,24430.4%2,3762.6%2047,824
Union 53.1%1,75642.7%1,4124.2%1383,306
Vanderburgh 62.3%48,03336.4%28,0901.3%99477,117
Vermillion 38.7%2,76958.2%4,1643.1%2237,156
Vigo 50.6%21,94147.1%20,4482.3%1,01143,400
Wabash 64.4%8,57833.3%4,4342.3%30813,320
Warren 51.7%2,05745.3%1,8043.0%1193,980
Warrick 65.1%18,49833.5%9,5311.4%38628,415
Washington 54.4%6,14143.4%4,8942.2%24911,284
Wayne 52.4%14,83243.2%12,2034.2%1,19828,233
Wells 65.4%8,41832.3%4,1532.3%29212,863
White 61.2%6,62035.6%3,8453.2%34310,808
Whitley 60.4%8,99737.4%5,5662.2%32014,883

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References

  1. ↑ "Schellinger for Governor: Endorsements". JimSchellinger.com. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  2. ↑ "Hoosiers for Jill: News". HoosiersforJill.com. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  3. 1 2 http://www.in.gov/apps/sos/primary/sos_primary08?page=office&countyID=-1&partyID=-1&officeID=37&districtID=-1&districtshortviewID=-1&candidate=
  4. ↑ "Oxley Joins Long Thompson on Democratic Ticket". HoosiersforJill.com. 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
  5. ↑ "Gubernatorial Debates". Indiana Debate Commission. 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  6. ↑ "Final Indiana Gubernatorial Debate Tuesday Night". Associated Press. 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  7. ↑ "Indiana General Election November 4, 2008, Statewide". Indiana Secretary of State. 2008-11-04. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  8. ↑ "Indiana General Election November 4, 2008, by County". Indiana Secretary of State. 2008-11-04. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
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