Indiana Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer stepping down

Indiana GOP chairman Kyle Hupfer addresses a crowd at a victory party for the Republicans in the Grand Ballroom of the JW Marriott hotel in downtown Indianapolis on Election Night, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.

Indiana Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer on Friday is stepping down after more than six years in the post, the party announced Friday.

In a press release, the party said Hupfer informed the Indiana Republican State Committee of his intention to leave the position as soon as his successor is elected.

Politico reported Friday that it was widely rumored the Hupfer intended to join the gubernatorial campaign of former Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers, who officially joined the race Thursday.

Hupfer, a partner at Indianapolis law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, has led the Indiana Republican Party since February 2017, a span that covered four election cycles.

“Serving as the chairman of the Indiana Republican Party for the past six-and-a-half years has been a great honor and a privilege,” Hupfer said in written remarks. “The Indiana Republican Party is strong. And I believe that if we continue to deliver results that matter, Hoosiers will continue to place their trust in us and elect and reelect Republicans long into the future.”

The party credited Hupfer’s leadership for raising the GOP’s dominance in Indiana to new heights. The party controls seven of the state’s nine U.S. Congressional Districts, has supermajorities in both chambers of the statehouse and is in charge of more than 90 percent of all county-elected offices across the state, a new record.

In 2019, 19 mayoral offices in Indiana flipped to Republicans, including in many Democrat strongholds such as Kokomo and Muncie, increasing the party’s total offices held to 70, another record.

That same year, the party hired Whitley Yates as its first director of diversity and engagement. And, in 2020, it  launched the Indiana Republican Diversity Leadership Series, a seminar and leadership training program designed to increase the engagement of minority Republican leaders across the state.

“Kyle Hupfer’s tenure as chairman of the Indiana Republican Party has proudly been one for the record books,” Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said in written remarks. “When he assumed the role in 2017, many believed the Indiana Republican Party had reached its apex. Instead, Kyle pulled together and led a team that was able to defy the annual odds, helping elect and reelect Republicans at every level. I want to thank Chairman Hupfer for his Next Level leadership and for setting new standards for the Indiana GOP.”