News Release

Sec. Brad Chambers

INDIANAPOLIS — Brad Chambers, who announced his stepping down from his secretary of commerce position last week, has acknowledged he is considering adding his name to the ballot for the 2024 governor’s election. Chambers’ last day of being secretary of commerce is Aug. 6.

If Chambers does enter the race, he will face at the least four candidates in the Republican primary. Three of the candidates are expected to already have an upper hand in fundraising.

Chambers spent 40 years of his career in the private sector as president of Buckingham Cos., a real estate development firm that he founded as a student at Indiana University. During his time as secretary of commerce, he significantly reduced his time at the company. The real estate development firm was ineligible for state incentives during his administration, and he refused to take a public salary.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation reportedly secured over $30 billion in committed capital expenditures from companies wanting to expand or relocate their operations to Indiana under Chambers’ lead/

Some of the notable projects include a planned $3 billion electric vehicle battery cell plant located in northern Indiana, a $2.5 billion EV battery facility located in Kokomo and Eli Lilly and Co.’s $3.7 billion manufacturing campus located in Boone County.

Additionally, Chambers oversaw the early stages of the LEAP Innovation District, a designated 10,000-acre technology and manufacturing plant near Lebanon that would serve as the prototype for commercial and industrial parks across Indiana. LEAP is an acronym for “Limitless Exploration/Advanced Pace.”

While Chambers considers his governor run, other candidates are busy raising campaign funds.

According to the Republican gubernatorial candidates’ semi-annual campaign finance reports, which were filed this week, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun has raised over $2.2 million during the first half of the year and has $4.6 million cash on hand.

Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch raised $1.1 million in the past six months and holds $3.8 million cash on hand. Crouch announced her candidacy on the same day as Braun.

Eric Doden, Fort Wayne businessman, has raised $1.7 million this year and has $3.8 million cash on hand.

Curtis Hill, former Indiana Attorney General, officially entered the governor race last week.

Jennifer McCormick is the only Democrat to declare a run in the race. McCormick served as the former state superintendent of education. She announced her intention to run in May and has raised $207,000 so far. According to campaign finance reports, most of her campaign donations come from individuals donating $1,000 or less.