The former Indiana secretary of commerce announced he’s entered the state's 2024 governor's race, jumping into an already crowded Republican field.

Brad Chambers stepped down from his position with the state and has now launched his campaign to succeed Gov. Eric Holcomb (R-IN), who is term-limited and cannot seek reelection in 2024.

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“As Indiana’s Secretary of Commerce, the last two years, I have witnessed firsthand how important leadership, vision, urgency, and aspiration are to the future of Indiana,” Chambers said in a news release. “I am running for Governor because I want Hoosiers of today and Hoosiers of tomorrow to believe that Indiana offers an opportunity for an excellent life.”

Chambers, who led the Indiana Economic Development Corporation for two years, is joining several other Republican candidates who have already entered the race, including Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Sen. Mike Braun, and former Attorney General Curtis Hill. Chambers is also joined by a fellow former head of the IEDC, Eric Doden.

There is currently only one openly active potential Democratic candidate for the state's top political spot — former Indiana state schools superintendent Jennifer McCormick, who launched her campaign in May.

The current GOP governor appointed Chambers to the IEDC in July 2021, and his candidacy marks the second Holcomb administration official in the race, following Crouch’s campaign launch in December 2022.

Holcomb quashed talks that he would be making a bid for the U.S. Senate in 2024 and said prior to Chambers's campaign launch that he will hold off on making an endorsement for his successor for the time being.

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“I’m under no timeline myself, and that would be the only timeline I’d hold myself to, my own,” Holcomb told the Indiana Capital Chronicle in June. “But I’ll give everyone the space that they need to define their candidacy and share who they are, share their plans.”

The governorship in Indiana has long been a Republican stronghold. The GOP hopes to maintain its hold on the office — a Democrat hasn't held the position since then-incumbent Gov. Joe Kernan lost the 2004 election to Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels. The Republican Party currently controls the offices of the secretary of state, attorney general, and both chambers of the state legislature in Indiana.