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Gov. Holcomb's advice on running 100-day campaigns: 'Takes a commitment to go without sleep'

Eric Holcomb speaks into a microphone. Holcomb is a White man with white and gray hair and beard. He is wearing a blue blazer with a light blue shirt.
Brandon Smith
/
IPB News
Eric Holcomb became the Republican nominee for governor in 2016 just 106 days before the polls closed on Election Day.

Vice President Kamala Harris is in the midst of a campaign for president that’s just three months long after officially becoming the nominee — and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb knows something about running such an abbreviated campaign for major office.

In 2016, then-Gov. Mike Pence became Donald Trump’s running mate, vacating his place as the GOP nominee for governor.

The Indiana Republican Party state committee chose then-Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb to replace Pence on the ballot, just 106 days before the polls closed on Election Day.

When President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month and Harris took the reins, there were just 107 days before Election Day.

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Holcomb said the Harris campaign needs to be prepared to go without sleep.

“So, it was really just a high-octane, 106-day — 100 day, for them — campaign to build the aircraft in flight and then to make sure you land it with no fuel left,” Holcomb said.

Holcomb said Harris must also share a clear plan for the country with supporters.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.