Bill would allow Pence to run for president, governor

Gov. Mike Pence would be able to run both for re-election and the White House in 2016 under a measure a state lawmaker will sponsor in the upcoming session.

State Sen. Mike Delph's measure would expand Indiana's election law to allow a sitting governor or state lawmaker to simultaneously seek both re-election and election to any federal office, The Indianapolis Star reported  Wednesday.

All of Indiana's 150 state lawmakers — the Carmel Republican included — could benefit from the measure depending on their ambitions. But Delph, who has previously considered running for Congress, told the newspaper he won't seek higher office and the focus of this measure is Pence, a conservative Republican who's weighing a possible 2016 presidential run.

"I think it's good for the state of Indiana to have a sitting governor in the national conversation and because of that I think it's in our interest to make the obstacles and roadblocks for Pence as minimal as possible," Delph said.

Indiana law currently prohibits candidates from seeking a state office and federal office on the same ballot. That law typically poses a decision for politicians: Stay in the state-level seat or aim for Washington.

Pence has said he won't announce whether he'll run for president until the 2015 legislative session ends in late April. He added to speculation about a possible White House run with a nine-day trip to Israel, marked this week by a dinner with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

If Delph's measure passes, Pence would only benefit if he won the GOP's presidential nomination.

It wouldn't be the first time Indiana has added an exception for politicians. In the 1988 election, state lawmakers approved legislation that allowed former Democratic U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton and former Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar to run for re-election to their respective seats and appear on the presidential ticket — if they chose to run.

Brad King, co-director of the Indiana Elections Division, said the 1988 change only affected a federal office-holder seeking another federal office.

Andy Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics, noted that if Delph was only focused on Pence's career, he did not have to add the expansion for state lawmakers.