Tony Cook, Chelsea Schneider, and Zach Osowski

IndyStar

FORT WAYNE — Two Indiana Republicans locked in tight races shared the spotlight with Gov. Mike Pence as he rallied for Donald Trump, the GOP presidential candidate, Friday in Fort Wayne.

Pence didn't address his running mate's war of words this week with a former Miss Universe, but he criticized the media for focusing on Trump's tweets and for counting him out of the race.

Pence came to the Hoosier state with a familiar call. The Republican governor told the crowd of about 300 people that "I want Indiana to be the first state on the board to elect Donald Trump."

Then he continued to pack his standard stump speech with Hoosier twists, including inviting on stage Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb, the Republican candidate for governor who replaced Pence on the ballot in July.

On Democrats, Pence said, "They tell us this economy is the best we can do. We, as Hoosiers, know better. It’s the best they can do."

Pointing to Holcomb and his wife, Janet, Pence said, "Let’s make sure they go to the Statehouse to keep Indiana growing.”

Pivoting to the U.S. Senate race, in which the winner could determine the party that controls the chamber, Pence said it was important for Indiana to elect Congressman Todd Young. The Republican is going up against Democrat Evan Bayh, whose hold over the race is narrowing.

Pence said the next president likely will set the course of the U.S. Supreme Court for the next 40 years. He pledged that Trump would nominate "strict constructionists" who would "interpret the law and not legislate from the bench."

Key to securing those nominations is the tilt of the U.S. Senate, Pence said. The chamber would weigh whether to confirm justices Trump brought forward.

Earlier, as he introduced Pence, Young said he couldn’t wait to see Pence presiding over the U.S. Senate as vice president.

"He’s Indiana's secret Republican weapon, and the secret's out,” Young said.

Holcomb focused on taking digs at John Gregg, the Democratic candidate for governor — a change in tactics from Monday’s cordial debate, in which both men declined to draw distinctions between themselves.

Tame first debate draws few distinctions in Indiana's race for governor

Holcomb said Gregg delayed payments to schools and local governments while in office.

"He was robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said of the former Indiana House speaker.

In his 45-minute speech, Pence spoke of topics he has brought up repeatedly along the campaign trail: national security, the need to repeal Obamacare and Hillary Clinton’s handling of Benghazi. President Barack Obama and Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, have weakened America's standing in the world, Pence said. He argued that pulling out of Iraq "created a vacuum" for the terrorist group ISIS to rise up.

"I like to tell people (Trump is) charismatic, bigger than life, interesting. Then there's me. Kind of the balance of the ticket," Pence said.

Then he quipped, "Obviously, we’re a little different. It’s a long way from Indiana to NYC."

A few hours before Pence took the stage in Fort Wayne, the Indiana Democratic Party gathered to criticize the path that he and Holcomb have put Indiana on.

House Minority Leader Scott Pelath said Gregg will be a welcome relief after four years of ideology getting in the way of policy.

“John will bring the type of pragmatic, common-sense-type leadership Hoosiers are crying out for,” Pelath said. “They’re tired of the ideological issues.”

Yet several people at the rally said they admired Pence’s Christian values, including Harry Houston, 70, who traveled from Akron, Ohio.

"He was courageous enough to bring up his faith," he said. "That was huge."

Pence, who said he liked to be introduced as a “Christian, conservative and Republican, in that order,” did not take questions from the media at the event at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

Trump tripped up by Clinton's Miss Universe comments

The rally came hours after Trump unleashed a series of tweets attacking former Miss Universe Alicia Machado and Clinton’s support of the former beauty queen, whose weight gain Trump has criticized.

In one early-morning tweet, Trump called Machado “disgusting” and encouraged his followers to “check out” what he characterized as a “sex tape” of Machado.

Pence said at the Fort Wayne rally that the media focuses too much on his running mate's comments on social media.

“He said that, he tweeted that,” Pence said. “They think they finally got him right where they want him, and they turn on the TV the next morning, and Donald Trump is still standing strong fighting for the American people.”

The rally is among a handful of campaign-related events Pence has conducted in the state since joining the GOP ticket in July. It comes as he’s preparing to face off in a prime-time debate Tuesday against Clinton’s running mate, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.

Call IndyStar reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @IndyStarChelsea.

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