INDIANAPOLIS - Stymied by Republicans in her role as state schools chief, Glenda Ritz is testing the waters for a run for governor.
But if the Democrat ends up vying to become Indiana’s chief executive, she will face a different set of challenges than in 2012 when she ousted Republican Tony Bennett to become state superintendent of public instruction.
On Thursday, Ritz said “after this session, there is absolutely nothing off the table” and that following the end of the school year, she’d consult with her family and share more information in June.
Ritz supporters are quick to point to the stats. In 2012, she not only won the race for schools chief against Bennett, she also garnered more votes than Gov. Mike Pence did in his respective race for governor. But also in 2012, Ritz rode a wave of anti-Bennett backlash in winning the office. Ritz focused on her history as an educator, but it was also equally important that she was the alternative to Bennett, a Republican who embraced an aggressive education reform agenda angering Hoosier educators from both parties.
Now almost four years down the road does Ritz have the political prowess to defeat yet another Republican, but this time for the governor’s office?
Since she took office, Republicans have chipped away at the role of the Ritz-controlled Indiana Department of Education. It began with Pence starting an education agency separate from the department. It continued with state board members and leaders of Pence’s education agency quickly trumpeting any perceived misstep of her office.
Now, lawmakers enacted a proposal to allow the State Board of Education to begin electing its chair in 2017 and transferred some authority over the ISTEP from her department to the state board.
But are those maneuvers enough to compel Republicans to cross party lines and vote Ritz for governor, like they did when she ran for schools chief?
The General Assembly’s top Democrats on Thursday seemed surprised on a potential Ritz campaign for governor.
“One thing our party is fortunate about is we are developing a deeper bench,” House Minority Leader Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City) said, “and we have a number of outstanding potential candidates and ones that would be more than capable of winning a gubernatorial race.”
Then, there’s competition within her own party. John Gregg – who barely lost to Pence in 2012 – announced his run on the same day as Ritz made her comments.
Pence has yet to announce his reelection bid, but he would come into the election cycle badly bruised by the fallout over the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. And an even greater boost to any Democrat candidate is that the issue of gay rights isn’t going away in Indiana anytime soon. In 2016, lawmakers may debate adding statewide protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity into state law – meaning Pence’s conservatism likely would conflict with shifting public opinion.
So once again a key to a Ritz win doesn’t necessarily lie with her. Even more important is if Indiana voters are fed up enough with Pence to not give him another four years in office.