State Sen. Chris Garten (R-Charlestown) announced Monday that he is running for President Pro Tempore of the Indiana Senate, and said that if elected he will appoint State Sen. Eric Koch (R-Bedford) as Majority Floor Leader.

The announcement comes three days after Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville) said he would not seek another term in the job he has held since 2018.

“Our caucus stands at a defining moment, and the challenges ahead demand bold, focused leadership,” Garten said in a statement, adding that Hoosiers do not send legislators to Indianapolis “to play defense or simply maintain a status quo.” He pledged a “conservative, Indiana First agenda” and said he would work to secure and expand the caucus’s supermajority.

Garten said the Koch decision followed “careful consideration and direct input from members,” and called Koch “an elite strategist, an accomplished attorney, and a deeply respected leader with judgment beyond reproach.”

Koch, in turn, endorsed Garten’s leadership and struck a unity theme.

“Senator Garten understands that a supermajority is not self-sustaining — it has to be earned every cycle and held together every day of session,” Koch said. He said their shared priorities are to “listen to members, empower our team, and move a conservative agenda with discipline and purpose.”

A note on process: the Majority Floor Leader is appointed by the pro tem rather than elected by the caucus. That means Koch’s elevation happens only if Garten wins — and it gives Garten a way to put a running mate on the ticket in a race that formally has only one office on the ballot.

It is also the seat Garten himself walked away from. He resigned as floor leader in June, writing to colleagues that the job “requires a seamless alignment with the current strategic direction of leadership — an alignment I no longer maintain.” Bray had appointed him to the post in August 2022.

Koch chairs the Senate Committee on Utilities and is a practicing attorney in Bedford. He represents Senate District 44, covering Brown, Jackson, Lawrence and Orange counties and part of Monroe County. He was re-elected in 2024 and is not on the ballot this year.

The leadership shuffle traces back to redistricting. The Senate voted down House Bill 1032, the mid-decade congressional map, 31-19 last December, with Bray among the Republicans voting no. Garten and Koch both voted for it. Gov. Mike Braun warned afterward that the vote would carry “political consequences,” and in May, Trump-aligned challengers knocked off a majority of the targeted incumbents. On July 31, President Donald Trump posted that Bray “should be ashamed” and should resign outright.

Senate Republicans are not expected to formally choose their leadership team until after the Nov. 3 general election, when the shape of the 2027 caucus is known. At least nine current GOP senators will not return next session because of retirements or primary losses.

Garten and Koch said they will meet with caucus members over the coming weeks.

No other senator has publicly announced for pro tem.