High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Mitchell Elias "Mitch" Daniels, Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is the 49th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana. A Republican, he began his first four-year term as governor on January 10, 2005, and was elected to his second term by an 18-point margin on November 4, 2008. Previously, he was the Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under George W. Bush. He was formerly Senior Vice President of Eli Lilly and Company, Indiana`s largest corporation, where he was in charge of the corporation`s business strategy. He is cited as a rising star in the Republican Party, and was widely speculated to be a candidate for President of the United States in 2012 before choosing not to run.