Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb takes questions during a March 2020 news conference, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo courtesy Holcomb’s Flickr)
Looking back on two terms in office, outgoing Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb doesn’t have regrets — or at least not many.
The Republican statesman is just days away from bringing his eight years as governor to a close. He’ll officially hand the reins to Gov.-elect Mike Braun on January 13.
In a sit-down interview with the Indiana Capital Chronicle in December, Holcomb pointed to economic gains — like job and wage growth, and an influx of new business developments in the state — among his biggest wins.
His tenure as Indiana’s 51st head of state was most notably defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, however. Even so, Holcomb said he hopes to be revered as “more than just a COVID governor.”
“I hope people say that we were served at a point in time that — while the economy grew — we were able to invest and reinvest and modernize things that had been on the shelf … gathering dust, understandably, because we didn’t have the money … and we upgraded so many different facilities that will have a positive impact on people’s lives and give them more opportunities,” he said. “And then maybe even most importantly, that I was a person that respected everyone, whether I agreed with them or not, or they with me. And that I was kind, even during the most challenging times. That’s enough for me.”