The 2000 Indiana gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Governor

Frank O'Bannon Frank Lewis O'Bannon (January 30, 1930 – September 13, 2003) was an American politician who served as the 47th governor of Indiana from 1997 until his death in 2003. As of October 2022, he remains the most recent United States Governor to h ...

, a Democrat, was re-elected over Republican

David M. McIntosh David Martin McIntosh (born June 8, 1958) is an American attorney and Republican Party politician who served as the U.S. representative for Indiana's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 2001. He is a co-founder of two conservative political ...

with 57% of the vote. Libertarian Andrew Horning also ran and received 2% of the vote. O'Bannon's victory was the fourth consecutive election in which a Democrat was elected Governor of Indiana, the longest winning streak for that party in the state since the Civil War. , this was the last time a Democrat was elected Governor of Indiana.

Primaries

Republican

Congressman David M. McIntosh faced John Price in the May 2 Primary Election. Former gubernatorial candidate George Witwer had previously declined to run and instead endorsed McIntosh. McIntosh's central campaign theme was a 25% cut in property taxes, which drew ire from many of his opponents. McIntosh also called for replacing the ISTEP Plus standardized test and merit-based evaluations of teachers in his "Kids First" education plan, released on March 3, 2000. Price's campaign was based largely on his "Price Plan", a 70-page booklet outlining a 27-step program for running the state government. In the Primary election, Price was defeated soundly by McIntosh, who won 71% of the vote.

Democratic

Incumbent Governor Frank O'Bannon ran unopposed for his party's nomination. He won 272,213 votes statewide and 100% of the vote.

Other Candidates

Libertarian Andrew Horning entered the gubernatorial race on March 23, pledging to eliminate state property taxes. Horning had run for Mayor of

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

in 1999 and received four percent of the vote. Horning pitched himself as an alternative to the two major parties, both of which he blamed for "the embarrassing state of education in Indiana". Horning's running mate was Mark Schreiber.

General election

Campaign

Throughout the campaign, McIntosh made his proposed 25% tax cut his signature issue. O'Bannon attacked the plan as potentially harmful to education, which was his top talking point during the fall campaign. O'Bannon unveiled a $310 million education plan on July 19 which drew scorn from both sides because of the inclusion of lottery money in the proposed funding. Despite this, O'Bannon maintained a steady lead over his opponent, with a September 1 poll showing him leading McIntosh by 21 points. This was partially credited to public distrust of McIntosh's tax policies, with polls showing "deep skepticism" of the proposed 25% cut, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Results

O'Bannon won the election with 57% of the vote. McIntosh trailed far behind at 42%, with Horning carrying just 2% of the vote.

References

{{United States elections, 2000 Gubernatorial

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Indiana