Dive Brief:

• Glenda Ritz, Indiana's current Superintendent of Public Instruction, has announced that she will run for governor.
• The controversial ed chief has clashed on numerous occasions with Gov. Mike Pence and says education will be her main platform.
• Ritz, who was elected to her position in 2013, took time in her candidacy announcement to criticize Pence's efforts to chip away at her influence over the state's education policy.

Dive Insight:

Pence and Ritz have more or less been warring for quite some time. Last month, Pence signed a bill eliminating the guarantee that the state superintendent automatically has a seat on the Indiana State Board of Education, additionally changing how the board is selected. Previously, the board president was automatically the state superintendent, but the new law places that decision in the hands of board members appointed by the governor — a move that wouldn't bode especially well for Ritz if she was to be re-elected as state superintendent.

Interestingly, while Democrats have supported Ritz in the past — including in their pushback against the new bill last month — some are wary of her gubernatorial hopesfor their potential to split Democratic votes. Ritz's response to this is that the primary will fix any split-vote issues before the general election.