PLAINFIELD — Mike Pence filed paperwork on Monday to officially run for governor of Indiana. Then the Republican made his first campaign stop here, at The Coachman restaurant.
"We are committed to a 92-county campaign," Pence told a roomful of supporters. "I believe in a four-corners offense and defense. We're taking this campaign everywhere."
Mike O'Brien, chair of the Hendricks County GOP, noted that Pence submitted more than 13,000 signatures to run for the office, which is about three times the legal requirement.
"That's no small representation of the broad support he's got in Indiana," said O'Brien, who's served as a consultant on the campaign since Pence announced his intention to run last June in his hometown of Columbus.
Pence was joined by his wife, Karen, at the event. She told the audience how they took their three children to the Super Bowl Village over the weekend and bought tickets to do the zipline. Before Pence filed his paperwork Monday, she asked him if he had any hesitation.
"He said, 'Actually I feel like I felt yesterday when I was stepping off the zipline,'" said Karen, a school teacher for some 30 years. "It's a little scary, but exciting. We're just thrilled he's an official candidate."
Pence, who is currently the U.S. representative for Indiana's 6th Congressional District, said being governor of his home state would be the highest honor. He's competing for that opportunity against former Democratic Speaker John Gregg and reality TV star Rupert Boneham, who's representing the Libertarians. First he has to defeat fellow Republican Jim Wallace, a former Fishers Town Council member, in the May primary.
"Karen and I know this is not about us," he said. "What it's really about is the future of Indiana."
Pence credited current Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels with making the state the fiscal envy of the country. That was done, he said, through capping property taxes, cutting business taxes, passing education reform, and becoming the first industrialized state in the Midwest to pass right to work legislation.
"We've made extraordinary progress in our economy, in state governance, and in our schools," Pence said. "But that's not why we're running. I think we've built a better Indiana in the last seven years. But I'm running because I think we can build an even better Indiana."
He said he plans to do that by focusing on creating good jobs and schools, public safety, and promoting two-parent families. Pence added that he'll articulate a series of goals to make those things happen in the coming months. Specific policy proposals will be offered this summer.
"This state is on the verge of an era of growth and opportunity like no other in our lifetime," Pence said. "That's kind of new for Indiana. Too often good enough has been good enough. What's happened in the last seven years - beyond all the reforms that have been done - is that Hoosiers have caught a glimpse that we can be the best. We can literally be a model state."
Pence's campaign website is at mikepence.com.
wade.coggeshall@flyergroup.com
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