Indiana Gov. Mike Pence with would-be successor Eric Holcomb

In a new TV spot in Indiana’s gubernatorial race, Republican Eric Holcomb blandly talks about job creation. But interestingly, Holcomb brags that he worked with former Gov. Mitch Daniels—whose term in office ended nearly four years ago—yet doesn’t say a word about current Gov. Mike Pence. Holcomb, who serves as Pence’s lieutenant governor, does say that Indiana has “one of the best job climates in America,” but it’s notable that he won’t say anything about Pence directly. And this is no inadvertent omission, seeing as this is the second time in recent weeks that Holcomb has run an ad reminding voters that he worked for Daniels but ignored Pence.

Pence was locked in a tough re-election campaign with Democrat John Gregg before he dropped out of the race in order to become Donald Trump’s running mate. While Pence had baggage all his own (related in part to his disastrous handling of the outcry over the state’s anti-LGBT Religious Freedom Restoration Act last year), Holcomb’s entry hasn’t changed the picture much, as polls still show a tight race, generally with a small advantage for Gregg.

And Gregg has indeed treated Holcomb like an extension of the man he replaced on the GOP ticket, running commercials telling voters that Holcomb would just represent a continuation of Pence’s disastrous policies. Gregg evidently thinks this is an effective strategy, though the limited polling we’ve seen differs on just how popular (or unpopular) Pence may be. An August Monmouth poll gave Pence a strong 54-33 job approval rating, but a more recent survey from Public Opinion Strategies—which, mind you, is a Republican pollster—found the governor with a very meh 47-45 favorable score.

But Holcomb’s refusal to even mention his boss’s name is a good indication that he doesn’t believe that Pence is much of an asset, which would mean that Gregg is indeed on to something. (Daniels, by contrast, left office very well-liked.) That recent POS poll showed that most voters still don’t have an opinion about Holcomb, and he doesn’t have much time to change that before Election Day. If Holcomb can successfully sell himself as the second coming of Mitch Daniels, that should boost him in conservative Indiana. However, both Holcomb and Gregg’s tactics indicate that, if voters see electing the Republican as the equivalent of giving Mike Pence a second term, Holcomb could have problems in November.

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