Indiana Republican Party Chair Kyle Hupfer to step down
Indiana Republican Party chair Kyle Hupfer announced Friday he would stepping down after more than six years of leading a party that has kept a firm grip on the Statehouse while grappling with a power tug-of-war between the professional establishment and ultraconservative, anti-establishment populists.
"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 a prepared statement. “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."
His resignation comes in the middle of his second four-year term, which would have ended in 2025.
Hupfer was Gov. Eric Holcomb's choice to take the mantle in early 2017, and now Holcomb will again get to recommend a successor, though the final decision rests with the state party's Central Committee. Hupfer, a partner at Indianapolis law firm Stettinius & Hollister and general counsel for the Republican National Committee, had been Holcomb's campaign treasurer.
In a prepared statement, Holcomb, whose second and last term ends next year, said Hupfer's tenure has been one for the record books.
Kyle Hupfer's tenure as chairman of the Indiana Republican Party has proudly been one for the record books.
"When he assumed the role in 2017, many believed the Indiana Republican Party had reached its apex," Holcomb said. "Instead, Kyle pulled together and led a team that was able to defy the annual odds, helping elect and reelect Republicans at every level."
More: 2024 primaries look like 'tipping point' for Indiana Republican's future
Hupfer also previously served as the party's 5th Congressional District chair and director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources under then-Gov. Mitch Daniels. Earlier this year, Hupfer waged an unsuccessful bid for RNC co-chair.
While Hupfer was chair, the GOP has enjoyed total control of statewide offices and supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, but increasing revolt from the party's more populist wing, many of whom took umbrage with the Holcomb administration's COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and mask mandates. At recent state party conventions, right-leaning delegates have begun flouting the wishes of the party by going against the governor's picks for key statewide offices.
Earlier this year, Hupfer acknowledged in an interview with IndyStar that the party's power dynamics have shifted, though he said that was a positive thing.
"There was a time in this state that the party was king," he said. "There’s no doubt it’s changed."
Hupfer's resignation will be effective once a successor is selected by the state committee. A caucus date to make that decision has not been set yet, said Luke Thomas, a spokesman for the state's Republican party.
Contact the reporter at kdwyer@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana GOP Chair Kyle Hupfer to resign
