Brad Chambers never aspired to run for office. Then he joined the Indiana governor's race

Editor's note: This is part of a series of profiles on each of the six Republican candidates for governor.

Read our profiles on Mike Braun, Curtis Hill, Jamie Reitenour, Eric Doden and Suzanne Crouch.

While musicians played bagpipes and volunteers poured beers at an Indianapolis firefighters St. Patrick's Day party, Brad Chambers wandered through the crowd at the end of St. Clair Street with his hands in his pockets.

The quiet businessman, dressed in a mint green, three quarter zip sweater, navigated past people in shamrock sunglasses and sparkly headbands. Chambers saw an opening and slid into conversation with Indianapolis realtor Denver Gray.

Gray didn’t know Chambers, the CEO of Buckingham Companies, who is among six Republican candidates running for governor of Indiana this year. (Maybe Jefferson Shreve was in that race, Gray wondered later.)

By the end of the conversation, the Franklin township resident slapped a Chambers for Indiana sticker on his t-shirt. Gray said he liked hearing that Chambers wanted to “get in and make a difference.”

That’s part of Chambers' pitch to voters in a crowded primary election around the corner in early May. He is positioning himself as the "political outsider" in the race "for the right reasons." The former secretary of commerce sees efforts to drive the economy as the state's path to future success, and that two-year stint leading the Indiana Economic Development Corporation motivated him to help make Indiana better, he said.

"It took every ounce of faith and personal courage to to get to yes after I started thinking about (running)," Chambers said. "But I believe that's what our founding fathers envisioned: They envisioned people to build a life, have a business, build a career and then serve."

But Chambers, a self-described introvert, has been criticized for lacking the personality to grab attention of Hoosier voters in a primary, where recent polling shows U.S. Sen. Mike Braun has a significant lead at the front of the pack. Despite funneling $7 million of his own money to his campaign and boasting support from prominent Republican insiders, it’s not clear if Chambers can make it to the top of a statewide race in today’s party, where brash Trumpian politics remains highly favorable in Indiana.

To some in the party, he's seen as another central Indiana Republican, closely aligned with the "establishment" Gov. Eric Holcomb administration that once implemented mask mandates and dreamt up the controversial LEAP Innovation District. Others quite simply have never heard of him.

In the primary Chambers faces Braun, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, businessman Eric Doden, former Attorney General Curtis Hill and Indianapolis mom Jamie Reitenour. Chambers, who is relying on his business experience, has to differentiate himself from others in the field with similar career paths, like Braun and Doden, who also point to their successful businesses.

“The problem is, it's not a top-two primary,” said Laura Wilson, an associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis. “It is a winner take all, and that's where I think the biggest challenge is for him.”

Can an introvert win?

Chambers seems most at ease at campaign events when he’s talking about economics. That’s his comfort zone, leaning on his years of real estate experience dating back to college at Indiana University in Bloomington when he began buying rental properties. Ask him about his 10-point plan to boost Indiana’s economy and he will break down how he believes higher-wage jobs lead to more people staying in the state.

Big public speeches or taking swipes at opponents on the debate stage is a different story. Chambers was the first to go on the attack at a March debate in Carmel, criticizing Braun for being in the Senate while the national debt has soared. The jab, halfway through the event, seemed uncomfortable for Chambers, who stumbled on his words during a conversation about local control.

Chambers said that separation is because he is an introvert, and one who has never run for public office before. He was the last Republican candidate to throw his hat into the race, announcing his campaign in August.

There was no magical moment Chambers points to that led him to join the race, but while at the IEDC he said people would suggest he run due to his background and leadership at the agency. As a "plotter," it took him roughly nine months of talking with trusted advisors, friends and family before he officially decided to run.

He also said he spoke with a handful of current and former governors in and outside of Indiana, ones with business backgrounds, although he did not specify whom.

“I've lived a private life,” Chambers said. “This is not something I aspired to do, having the public nature of this role.”

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, a well-respected Central Indiana Republican behind much of that city's growth, said he has that in common with Chambers. They are both "idea guys," not extroverts, Fadness said.

Chambers has a natural ability to interact with Hoosiers one-on-one, Fadness said.

"I think he has a high degree of empathy and understanding of where people are at from an individual basis," Fadness said. "When I've been out with him, when he's talking to any Hoosier resident, he's genuinely interested in their story. He doesn't have to fake that part."

While Chambers may be unfamiliar with running for office, he has a roster of other Republican heavy hitters to help him with the politics, including former state party chairman Kyle Hupfer, who was a campaign manager for Gov. Holcomb, and Marty Obst, a former advisor to Vice President Mike Pence.

Chambers tries to be his own authentic self during stops across the state. He is “serious and determined," but still tries to keep things lighthearted with members of his campaign staff.

Chambers sometimes plays practical jokes on Luke Thomas, his communications director, by pretending he created a public relations crisis. Chambers will convince another staffer to send Thomas a message after a media interview along the lines of "You won't believe what Brad just said..."

Chambers listens to classical music to relax after long days, something he adopted from his mother, who played the Metropolitan Opera in their home on Saturday mornings as he grew up.

“I think she tortured me intentionally,” Chambers joked. “And now it’s the one place I can go to relax and just think.”

Do millions matter?

With six candidates in the Republican primary, Chambers is part of a high-spending and high-fundraising governor’s race.

The businessman raised $8 million in 2023, more than any of the other candidates, largely due to a $5 million loan he gave his own campaign. He added another $2 million of his own money to that total this year. It's part of getting his name out in front of fellow Hoosiers, he said.

“It's a significant investment in it," Chambers said, "but I believe in my ability to affect change and move Indiana into the future.”

But some questioned what Chambers, as a wealthy former member of Holcomb's administration, is actually doing with that money in the governor's race. On a March program on WIBC, conservative radio host Rob Kendall asked why Chambers has not made a dent in the race despite donating millions to his own campaign.

"If I were that rich, to be able to spend that much money," Kendall quipped," I would have waltzed into that race as if I was like Rocky."

The most recent Republican candidate who largely self-funded a race was not successful. Jefferson Shreve donated $13.5 million of his own money on his 2023 bid for mayor of Indianapolis, but lost to Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett by 20 percentage points.

A better comparison to this year’s Republican primary might be the 9th Congressional District victory by Trey Hollingsworth in 2016, who spent at least $1 million of his own money for an open seat, said Wilson from the University of Indianapolis.

Chambers, when asked about his self-funding, recognizes that he is "fortunate," but is quick to point out he’s not the only candidate in the governor’s race to have lent their campaign money. Braun loaned his 2018 U.S. Senate campaign millions of dollars, but has not yet personally donated to his gubernatorial campaign.

In addition to his own money, Chambers' campaign has been boosted by wealthy central Indiana businessmen and prominent Republican insiders, such as Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks and Merchants Bank Chairman Michael Petrie who both gave $100,000.

There's also the support from IU Health CEO Dennis Murphy, who in early March wrote to fellow hospital leaders encouraging them to donate to Chambers due to concerns that other candidates, specifically Braun and Doden, could hurt the hospital industry.

Murphy suggested either donating directly or through the Indiana Innovation Council, a 501(c)(4) committee that is not required to disclose campaign contributions. That means we may never know the full extent of who is supporting Chambers' campaign.

But Chambers brings conversations about campaign funding back to service, including highlighting Buckingham's nonprofit arm. He also took $1 a year when leading the IEDC while helping bring hefty economic projects to Indiana, he said.

"I lent my time to the state with historic results for that role," Chambers said. "That was an investment also, and I think the state got a really good return on that."

Benefits and drawbacks of business

Before Chambers held titles such as CEO and secretary of commerce, he was a high school student with a lawn mowing business.

He first bought real estate properties in college in Bloomington, which eventually became Buckingham Companies. Chambers continues to lead the company today, which boasts managing a $3 billion real estate portfolio with 400 employees across nine states.

Mike Curless, who met Chambers when they were freshmen at IU, remembers being in awe of his friend's ability to balance his own businesses, school, leadership positions and time enjoying being a college student.

"He did it all and I was always amazed at his capacity to get a lot done in a week," said Curless, a former real estate executive who joined the Chambers campaign as vice chair of coalitions. "I've seen that pattern play out over the last 42 years. He's always been able to be the bigger thinker who's willing to stick his neck out and see things before a lot of other people do."

Chambers officially dipped his toe into state government in 2021 to lead the Indiana Economic Development Corp., which former Gov. Mitch Daniels created.

Susan Brooks, the former 5th District Congresswoman, said she remembers being "pleasantly surprised" that Chambers took on that role. He had innovative ideas and built a talented team to help execute them, skills he could bring to the governor's office, she said.

"That's what I think is really awesome about Brad," said Brooks, yet another prominent Republican supporting Chambers. "He respects those with political and elected experience, but yet he also wants to bring in fresh new ideas and people with some fresh ideas too."

Chambers and his campaign tout that companies committed to investing $51 billion in Indiana while he was secretary of commerce, but the IEDC and his role leading the creation of the massive LEAP manufacturing district in Boone County has opened Chambers up to criticism from opponents for what they perceive as a lack of transparency and a "top-down" approach to the project.

"I do not believe the IEDC should be a developer," Doden, who ran the IEDC under former Gov. Mike Pence, said at a December candidate forum.

The IEDC, a quasi-governmental agency, is often behind multi-million dollar economic development projects across the state, but has drawn rebukes from local and state lawmakers for the behind-closed-doors nature of its efforts and the incentives it promises to businesses.

The LEAP District was certainly a fresh idea, a new way to approach economic development in Indiana, allowing the agency to close deals with massive job-creating companies more quickly by giving them ready-to-use land. But it also has led to lawsuits about the amount of land acquired by the IEDC to construct the manufacturing park and public outcry about plans to pump water 40 miles from the Wabash River aquifer to Boone County.

More: Water isn't only a Western problem. Here's why some Hoosiers are worried about running out

David Winters, a former Republican Danville Town Councilman who has been critical of Gov. Holcomb, said both Chambers' involvement with the sitting governor and the LEAP project are detriments to the candidate's campaign.

"I think that his ties to IEDC are probably also going to hurt him right now, especially with what is going on with the LEAP project in Lebanon and Boone County," Winters said. "I just don't think he's the guy for the job."

Chambers has heard the critiques and concerns about LEAP and the IEDC, but he remains certain that the project will be good for Indiana. The efforts to build the LEAP district are necessary to make Indiana competitive with other states, especially ones that already have large manufacturing parks, he said.

"You've gotta play to win in the global economy," Chambers said. "Mitch Daniels used to say 'Government doesn't move at the speed of business, business moves at the speed of business' and Mitch Daniels formed the IEDC to move at the speed of business."

That Daniels mention is intentional, political experts say. In campaign ads and while he outlines plans for Indiana, Chambers frequently mentions the former governor. Like Chambers, Daniels was a successful businessman who had never run for office before throwing his own hat into the governor's race in the mid-2000s.

"Only Brad Chambers can bring an outsider's vision to life, like Mitch Daniels once did," his recent television ad says, as a photo of Daniels flashes across the screen.

Daniels has yet to endorse a candidate, but told IndyStar he wants the next governor to emphasize change and commitment to economic prosperity.

"If that's what this one candidate is talking about," Daniels said, "I think he's on the right themes."

This all factors into what Chambers refers to as his policy-focused campaign, which includes plans from the economy to combatting China. In a technology lab in Fishers in mid-March, not even the lights accidentally flipping off during a press conference deterred him from answering questions about his 10-point plan to stimulate economic growth, which includes new cabinet positions focused on entrepreneurship and water resources.

“I’ll keep going if you have power,” Chambers told reporters in the dark warehouse.

That "play to win" economic plan also includes reducing the various fees and requirements that can raise costs for small businesses as well as "modernizing" the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority to boost construction of more forms of housing throughout the state.

Win or lose

Back at the firefighters’ St. Patrick’s Day event, Chambers walked away visibly fired up by his first exchange with potential voters.

He speaks to another group and another. He shakes the hand of one man and hugs a woman he recognized from working at the IEDC. He hands out more stickers and three different kinds of beer koozies with his name on them in blue, red or camouflage.

At one point, he walks through the crowd with a beer in his hand and greets another group with "Hey, I'm Brad."

Remember: it’s those small moments, not the big stage events, that both humble and energize him, he said.

“I’m interested in this mosaic of Hoosiers and their life stories,” he said. “You get to see them, be with them and you’ve got to listen to them. That really is impactful over time and it’s really shaped me: win, lose or draw.”

About Brad Chambers

Age: 59

Home: Indianapolis

Education: Finance degree from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business

Family: Wife, Carol, and son, Nick.

Previous experience: Indiana secretary of commerce 2021-23; CEO of Buckingham Companies

Support from outside groups: Chambers' campaign did not point to any groups that have endorsed him. Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, former Indiana Republican U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks and racing legend Michael Andretti support Chambers for governor.

Contact IndyStar's state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X@CarloniBrittany.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Can Brad Chambers make a dent in the Indiana governor's race?