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Top two Indiana Republican Party officials to step down

Anne Hathaway stands behind a lectern with the Indiana Republican Party logo on it. Hathaway is a White woman with brunette hair, wearing a gray shirt.
Brandon Smith
/
IPB News
Anne Hathaway became the first woman to lead the Indiana Republican Party when she was elected its chair in 2023.

The two top officials at the Indiana Republican Party will step down next week. Party Chair Anne Hathaway and Executive Director Joe Elsener made the announcement late Sunday night.

Hathaway became the first woman to lead the Indiana Republican Party 10 months ago. In a statement Sunday night, she said she and Elsener were always going to serve in their roles on a temporary basis.

Hathaway said the plan was to lead the organization until after the 2024 primary election, allowing the new gubernatorial nominee — in this case, Mike Braun — to choose more permanent party leadership.

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A new state party chair will be formally elected June 24 by the party’s central committee.

Hathaway and Elsener’s departure also comes one day after Braun’s choice for running mate failed to earn the nomination for lieutenant governor at the state GOP convention.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.