FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Governor Pence will formally announce his reelection bid next month. He could become just the second Indiana governor to face a primary challenge.   

Fort Wayne car dealer Bob Thomas has said he‘ll decide in July whether to take Pence on in the Republican primary. Thomas has slammed Pence for supporting the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act, while some conservative backers have blasted the governor for supporting a follow-up law aimed at defusing charges that RFRA legalized discrimination. 

Despite the RFRA blowback, I-P-F-W political scientist Andy Downs says a challenger would be hard pressed to break Pence‘s hold on conservative voters, and says the pool of crossover votes probably isn’t enough to put Pence in jeopardy, unless a multicandidate primary fractures the conservative vote and gives a third candidate an opening.

Indiana began holding primaries for governor in 1976, but only one governor, Robert Orr in 1984, had to dispose of a primary opponent. He trounced former state treasurer John Snyder by 42 points.  But eight states have ousted governors in primaries since then, including Hawaii last year.