Matthew Tully

You have to give Gov. Mike Pence this much: His administration hasn’t been boring.

Hurt by missteps and misplaced priorities? Definitely. Divisive at times? Oh yeah. But boring? Nope. Not even close.

So here we are, less than nine months before Election Day — an Election Day that will determine whether the struggling governor gets a second term — and he’s replacing his eminently qualified and impressive lieutenant governor with a savvy political operative who until Sunday afternoon was running for the U.S. Senate.

In other words: more drama for Team Pence.

In a Statehouse room crowded with staffers and reporters Tuesday afternoon, Pence said goodbye to Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann with smiles and parting words that suggested nothing was unusual about a shake-up of this magnitude. He and Ellspermann hugged uncomfortably, saying nice things about each other but looking like a couple trying to put on a good show for the children as they announce their divorce.

Ellspermann, Pence said, “did a phenomenal job serving the people of Indiana.” And then he introduced her replacement, former Indiana Republican Party Chairman Eric Holcomb.

Pence calls Holcomb 'a Hoosier through and through'

The move sends all sorts of messages and makes a few things clear.

First, while it appears Indiana will gain if Ellspermann indeed takes over the critical job of Ivy Tech president, her departure from the Statehouse will be a big loss. The governor’s office has been driven too often by politics and ideology, and there was some comfort in knowing an accomplished businesswoman and rational academic leader was serving in the administration, particularly since she seemed to shake her head at so many of the silly games that come with politics.

Honestly, if there isn’t room for Ellspermann on the Pence team, that helps explain why the team has had so many problems. And, please, let’s not kid ourselves. Lieutenant governors don’t seek new jobs, and governors don’t bless such searches, if the relationship is solid. Ellspermann, in one telling moment Tuesday, deftly dodged a question about her comfort with elements of the Republican governor’s social agenda.

Second, by selecting Holcomb as his running mate, Pence sent a clear message about how endangered his political career is. It’s important to note that Holcomb’s most important political asset is his deep connection to Republican activists and party officials across the state. Sen. Dan Coats, who won the 2010 GOP primary with only 39 percent of the vote, wisely hired Holcomb to serve as his Indiana-based chief of staff, charging him with strengthening Coats’ then-shaky ties to tea party activists, local officeholders and other key GOP groups.

Holcomb is an impressive guy, and his message during his now-abandoned Senate campaign was intriguing. Just two weeks ago he talked to me at length about his hope to address big issues by bringing diverse voices together and, in this time of empty and often irrational politics, “to approach complex issues in a practical way.” (Confession: In this era of Trump, I’m a sucker for any Republican who uses the word “practical.”)

But Holcomb’s history is all about massaging the partisan faithful, and it says something when a sitting governor picks, as his running mate, someone to help shore up the base. It shows the depth of the hole Pence is in.

Holcomb has strong ties to both social conservatives and veterans of the Mitch Daniels administration — two groups Pence must rally in order to win this year. In a state that leans Republican, having a unified GOP could be enough. So the move makes political sense.

More than anything, though, swapping out one lieutenant governor for another is a reminder of just how much drama has infiltrated the Pence administration.

It’s funny, in a way. Here’s Mike Pence, a guy who looks and sounds as mild-mannered as can be. A don’t-rock-the-boat kind of politician. A play-it-safe governor who comes to the legislature every year with the most modest of agendas. Yet, he repeatedly has found himself swirling in major controversies, sometimes emerging as the unlikely poster politician for hot-button national issues.

The drama follows him. He’s like that relative we all have whose life seems to be in constant upheaval. There’s always something.

While scores of Republican leaders around the nation embraced religious freedom laws, Pence became the focal point of the debate. In that case, it probably was because one of his supporters made clear the bill was about discrimination. And, of course, there was the infamously tone-deaf bill-signing photo.

Earlier this year, as many state leaders called for an expanded state civil rights law, Pence courted even more drama by promising to address the matter in his State of the State Address. That speech was a dud and left many accusing Pence of punting the issue after working so hard to build expectations.

Then there was the governor’s “Just IN” news service, which became a national joke and a symbol of taxpayer-funded political propaganda last year. More drama ensued.

As it did when Pence spiked a bipartisan federal preschool grant application in 2014, fought with his own party over tax cuts in 2013, and when he inserted himself into national issues such as Planned Parenthood funding and the Iran nuclear deal.

Drama. Drama. Drama.

Now comes this change at the highest level of his administration — a move that again makes you wonder whether this governor will ever find solid footing.

Sure, plenty of governors have had strained relationships with their lieutenant governors. That’s understandable; the nature of the relationship essentially guarantees conflict. But most find a way to work through it.

Not Pence.

So, there he was Tuesday — a few months after replacing one communications team with another, he was now replacing one lieutenant governor with another. It’s always something.

It was big news. It was a big change. But, in a way, it was just another day in the life of Mike Pence — Indiana’s drama king.

You can reach me at matthew.tully@indystar.com and on Twitter: @matthewltully.

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