INDIANAPOLIS — On a hot afternoon at the Indiana State Fair, a cool blonde in an Indiana Pork shirt caught the attention of two men from Southern Indiana taking refuge in a shaded tent.

“Is that Becky Skillman?” asked one. “Can’t be,” said the other.

Absent an entourage and surrounded by hog farmers in ball caps, the woman they spotted eating a pork burger off a paper plate didn’t look to them like she was the constitutional successor to the state’s chief executive officer.

She looked, as she described herself earlier that day, like an “average Hoosier.”

That, political experts said, may be why Indiana’s first elected female lieutenant governor could make history again as the state’s first female governor, if she decides to run.

While rumors run rampant about Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ possible bid for the presidency in 2012, much less attention has been given to his potential successor.

Skillman has yet to declare her candidacy, but she’s left the door open. “2010 is a huge year for so many others, from the courthouse to Congress,” Skillman said. “Maybe we need to wait till after the November election.”

By virtue of the position, she’s a logical choice as the GOP candidate, said political expert Ed Feigenbaum.

Feigenbaum, who co-authored a book about lieutenant governors, said the state’s constitution gives Skillman more responsibilities than most of her peers. By law, she presides over the state Senate and, among other things, oversees agriculture, energy and economic development.

That’s allowed her to travel the state, “bringing jobs, grants and other honors and awards, but little bad news,” Feigenbaum said.

That’s raised Skillman’s profile. When USA Today published a 2005 story about the emerging powers of lieutenant governors, Skillman was cited as an example of a second-in-command with influence.

That’s heady stuff for a former county clerk from rural Southern Indiana who’s dismissed by some heavyweight political observers as lacking the heft to emerge from Daniels’ shadow.

It may not help that in past profiles of her, reporters have noted her beauty-queen good looks, her marriage at 19 to her high school sweetheart and her lack of a college degree. She has quietly taken care of the last criticism: Earlier this year, she added night classes to her busy schedule to earn a college degree.

Sexism may play a role, said political scientist and pollster Brian Vargus. “There’s a tendency to underestimate female office holders.”

Daniels has acknowledged as much. In a 2008 profile of Skillman for the book, “19 Stars of Indiana: Exceptional Hoosier Women,” Daniels said, “Some women are almost too cute and sweet for their own good, because people underestimate them. As endearing a person as she is, no one should underestimate Becky.”

Skillman, 59, had spent 12 years in the state Senate, earning a reputation as a charming consensus builder and rising to the No. 2 position as caucus chair before Daniels tapped her to be his running mate in 2004 in an effort to unseat the Democrat, Gov. Joe Kernan.    

She thought about it before saying yes.

“I remember asking Mitch, ‘you mean you want me to give up my safe seat in the Senate and help you defeat an incumbent governor, something that’s never been done in the history of this state?’ “ Skillman said.

That’s what Daniels wanted. And that’s what he got.

But he needed her help to push through his aggressive legislative agenda. After what he’s described as plenty of “wait a minute, Mitch” moments with her giving him advice and counsel on the legislative process, he gives her credit.

“Becky’s been our legislative manager on all the biggest bills of the last six years: Balancing the state’s budget, the Major Moves infrastructure success, the biggest tax cut in state history and so many more initiatives may not have happened without her,” Daniels said. “Through it all, she’s been my closest counselor. No governor ever had a better partner than I do.”

Those who’ve witnessed the partnership up close confirm her value.

“She’s his most valuable player,” said Jason Barclay, who served as Daniels’ legal counsel and policy director when the duo first took office in 2005. “If the governor has been effective in using the bully pulpit to advance his initiatives, she’s waged the ground war to get it done.”

But war can leave wounds. The next legislative session, which begins in January, promises to be a bitter battle over a budget that has to be crafted as revenues plunge.

In response to what it would take to make a decision to run, Skillman cited the support she’d need from family, friends and the party.

She insisted it’s not a done deal. “In some ways,” she said, “once you’ve seen what it takes to run and win, it’s almost a harder decision to make.”



Maureen Hayden is statehouse bureau chief for CNHI’s Indiana newspapers. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.