A state lawmaker will sponsor a bill that would allow Gov. Mike Pence to run both for re-election and the White House in 2016.
The measure from State Sen. Mike Delph 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.
Delph, who has previously considered running for Congress, told the Indianapolis Star that he won't seek higher office and the focus of the bill is Pence.
Delph says “it's good for the state of Indiana to have a sitting governor in the national conversation” and he wants to minimize the “obstacles and roadblocks” for Pence.
Andy Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics, noted that if Delph was only focused on Pence's career, he didn’t have to add the expansion for state lawmakers.
Indiana law currently prohibits candidates from seeking a state office and federal office on the same ballot.
Pence has said he won't announce whether he'll run for president until the 2015 legislative session ends in late April.