Compassionate executive

Politics | Indiana's new governor beat the incumbent by wooing crossover votes with works that speak louder than words | Russ Pulliam

Indiana Governor-elect Mitch Daniels calls himself a Matthew 6 Christian. He'd rather practice his faith than talk about it.

He didn't say much about his Christian faith in his successful run against incumbent Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan. Instead, he let his record of quiet service at an inner-city private school in Indianapolis speak—and, in the end, it led him to a 53 percent to 46 percent victory.

The Daniels victory was part of a pattern of party turnover in several states with gubernatorial elections this season. Republicans took the governor's office back from the Democrats in Missouri, with Secretary of State Matt Blunt winning a 51 percent to 48 percent race against Democratic state auditor Claire McCaskill. Ms. McCaskill had defeated the incumbent Gov. Bob Holden in an earlier primary.