Indiana Republican Governor Mike Pence announced his reelection bid on Thursday. Since the state constitution was amended to allow governors to serve two consecutive four-year terms in 1972, all five of Pence’s predecessors were victorious in their reelection campaigns: Republican Doc Bowan (1972, 1976), Republican Robert Orr (1980, 1984), Democrat Evan Bayh (1988, 1992), Democrat Frank O’Bannon (1996, 2000), and GOPer Mitch Daniels (2004, 2008). Pence, however, is the only one in this era to be elected with a plurality of the vote and the 49.5 percent he received in 2012 is the lowest support of any victorious gubernatorial nominee in the state since 1916 when Republican James Goodrich won with 47.6 percent.

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