Eric Holcomb Launches US Senate Campaign
Eric Holcomb, a former advisor to Governor Mitch Daniels and U.S. Senator Dan Coats, former Indiana Republican Party chairman and United States Navy veteran, announced today his candidacy for the United States Senate in 2016.
Holcomb, who until recently served as Senator Coats’ state chief of staff, was joined during the announcement by his wife, Janet, and an enthusiastic group of supporters from across the state.
“The encouragement from friends, colleagues and supporters to launch this campaign has been overwhelming and encouraging,” said Holcomb. “I’m an optimist. I know we can course correct our nation because I’ve seen it work before, right across the street in our very own Statehouse. I want to lead that same proven solutions-oriented approach in Washington and I’m asking every Hoosier who feels a shared duty to return America to our rightful and respected leadership position to join me.”
Holcomb told supporters that the “campaign will focus on five key goals and search for real solutions that support them.”
The goals are:
- Keeping America safe.
- Making America the global jobs magnet.
- Honoring our commitments.
- Respecting the rule of law.
- Engaging the next generation of leaders.
“This campaign will be about what we are for, not simply what we are against,” Holcomb added. “This campaign will seek to attract people of diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. This campaign will be about Indiana’s Voice.”
Holcomb spent the previous 12 years serving alongside two of the most accomplished leaders in Indiana history, Governor Mitch Daniels and Senator Dan Coats. Holcomb was an early leader and key strategist on both Daniels’ insurgent gubernatorial race in 2004 and his landslide reelection bid in 2008. Additionally, as state chairman, Holcomb led the Indiana Republican Party by recruiting and helping to elect a new generation of Republican leaders to mayoral and state legislative positions, contributing to the GOP super majorities.
Inundated by calls and emails of support for this race, Holcomb took a leave of absence from Coats’ staff earlier this week in order to fully focus on his decision to become a candidate.
Holcomb, 46, earned his bachelor’s degree from Hanover College. After graduation, he served in the United States Navy at VS-27 in Cecil Field, Fla., and abroad at Cinciberlant, a NATO war headquarters in Lisbon, Portugal. He and his wife, Janet, live in Indianapolis.