The 2008 Indiana gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican nominee

Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician. A Republican, Daniels served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. Since 2013, Daniels has been pr ...

was challenged by Democratic nominee

Jill Long Thompson Jill Lynette Long Thompson (born July 15, 1952) is an American politician, educator, and author. A former Congresswoman from Indiana, she is the author of ''The Character of American Democracy, ''published by Indiana University Press in Septembe ...

and Libertarian nominee Andy Horning. Daniels easily won reelection, defeating Long Thompson by over 17 points. Despite Daniels' landslide victory,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

narrowly carried Indiana in the concurrent presidential election; the only Democratic candidate to do so since 1964.

Timeline

May 6, 2008 – Democratic and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

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

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 Barton "Bart" R. Peterson (born June 15, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician who served as mayor of the U.S city of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is also a past president of the National League of Cities. A Democrat, he was first elected in 1 ...

and U.S. Representative

Julia Carson Julia May Carson (née Porter; July 8, 1938 – December 15, 2007) was a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 1997 until her death in 2007 (numbered as the 10th District from 1997 to 2003).

. Long Thompson's support came from Democrats such as popular former U.S. Representative Andrew Jacobs, Jr. and former Indiana First Lady Maggie Kernan. 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. On June 16, Long Thompson announced that her running mate and the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor would be longtime State Representative Dennie Oxley.

Republican

On June 16, 2007, incumbent Governor Mitch Daniels announced he was running for reelection with his Lieutenant Governor

Becky Skillman Rebecca S. Skillman (born September 26, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 49th Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, from 2005 to 2013. She is a member of the Republican Party. Early life and career Skillman is a native of Bedford, ...

. He was unopposed in the Republican primary.

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: *Tuesday, September 16 at the Star Plaza Theatre in

Merrillville, Indiana Merrillville is a town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 35,246 at the 2010 census. Merrillville is in east-central Lake County, in the Chicago metropolitan area. On January 1, 2015, Merrillville became the ...

*Tuesday, September 23 at the Jasper Arts Center in

Jasper, Indiana Jasper is a city in, and the county seat of, Dubois County, Indiana, United States, located along the Patoka River. The population was 16,703 at the 2020 census making it the 48th largest city in Indiana. On November 4, 2007, Dubois County retur ...

*Tuesday, October 14 at the Indiana University Auditorium in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

, moderated by former Indianapolis broadcaster Tom Cochrun

Predictions

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 b
Public Policy Polling
(November 2, 2008), Daniels led Long Thompson 60% to 37%.

Statewide results

County results

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

References

External links

Elections
from the ''Indiana Secretary of State''
Indiana Governor candidates
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

Indiana Governor race
from ''OurCampaigns.com''
Indiana Governor race
from ''2008 Race Tracker''
Campaign contributions
from ''Follow the Money''
Daniels (R-i) vs Long Thompson (D)
graph of collected poll results from ''Pollster.com'' *''Official campaign websites'' (Archived)
Mitch Daniels
Republican incumbent nominee
Jill Long Thompson
Democratic nominee
Andy Horning
Libertarian nominee {{DEFAULTSORT:Indiana Gubernatorial Election, 2008 2008 United States gubernatorial elections

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...