Here are the 22 people who will choose Mike Pence's replacement

Barbara Knochel didn't want to answer the phone.

"I almost didn't," she said Monday.

It's not that she's unfriendly. It's just that so many people have been calling, wanting to know whom she supports for governor or hoping to offer last-minute advice on whom she should vote for. The phone calls have been constant.

Knochel, the Republican vice chairwoman for the 4th District, is a member of the Indiana Republican State Committee, a panel that typically sets rules and bylaws for the state party, but now has been thrust into an unprecedented responsibility to choose the GOP candidate for governor.

Knochel will be among 22 committee members who will vote Tuesday on a replacement for Gov. Mike Pence atop Indiana's GOP ballot. The options are Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb, U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks and Todd Rokita and state Sen. Jim Tomes.

It's not a task Knochel has been looking forward to.

"It's amazing we have so many qualified people that have filed," she said. "It really puts us in an even more difficult position."

Republicans don't join the state committee expecting to make a decision that's typically left to primary voters. They join to guide the party. Or, as committee member Nick Barbknecht describes it, "We're the board of the Indiana Republican Party. We vote on the direction the way you would for a local hospital."

The process for selecting state committee members has several steps. Here's how it works: Voters select precinct committee members during primary elections. Those precinct committee members elect county chairs, who then select district officers. The district officers elect state committee members to four-year terms.

Deb Fleming, a dentist and St. Joseph County commissioner, said she sought election to the state committee to give her county more of a say in state politics. Now, her responsibility has grown much greater than she ever could have imagined.

"I feel a lot of pressure on my shoulders to try to make sure we make the right decision," Fleming said.

C. Richard Martin, a patent attorney in Evansville, said he has spent up to 30 hours during the past week preparing for the unexpected role of choosing a governor.

"I haven't made a determination yet," Martin said, echoing the position of most committee members who spoke with IndyStar on Monday.

Although the committee members might not make a unanimous choice for governor, all seem to agree on one thing: They'll be happy when the vote is over and the phones stop ringing.

"I'm anxious to get it over with, to have it behind us," Martin said.

Yet they're also conscious that they're making a decision on behalf of Republican voters who don't have a say in which candidate will oppose Democrat John Gregg. Whether the party wins or loses in November could be up to 22 people who will meet in the seventh-floor conference room of the party headquarters in Indianapolis.

"All of a sudden, this is part of the job, too, and you didn't know that was going to happen. The job takes a different flavor," said Judy Buck, a committee member and party officer in Howard County. "We'll get back to normal business. Right now, this is a very serious decision."

Here are the 22 committee members who will select the Republican candidate for governor:

Nick Barbknecht: The 2nd District vice chairman. Barbknecht, a La Porte resident, handles business development for RQAW Corp. He's a former intergovernmental affairs director for the state Department of Transportation and former assistant commissioner for the state Department of Labor.

Beth Boyce: The 9th District vice chairwoman. Boyce is a third-term Johnson County councilwoman and the county's Republican Party chairwoman.

Ginger Bradford: The 6th District vice chairwoman and Ripley County Republican Party chairwoman.

Judy Buck: The 5th District vice chairwoman. Buck, the wife of state Sen. Jim Buck, also is vice chairwoman of the Howard County Republican Party. She's an office manager and paralegal for the law firm Butcher, Ball, Lowry & McMahan.

Jeff Cardwell: Chairman of the Indiana Republican State Committee, a position to which Pence nominated him in March 2015. Cardwell also has served as executive director of the Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives and was a special adviser and special assistant to Pence. Cardwell is CEO of Cardwell Do-it Best Home Center.

Bill Davis: The 3rd District vice chairman. Davis, a Portland resident, was a member of the Indiana House from 2004 to 2013. He is the former executive director of the state Office of Community and Rural Affairs.

Dan Dumezich: Treasurer of the state committee. Dumezich was a state representative from 1999 to 2002. He is the national leader of federal tax controversy services for Deloitte Tax LLP.

Craig Dunn: Chairman of the 4th District and Howard County Republican Party. A Kokomo financial consultant, Dunn also served as a delegate.

Deb Fleming: The 2nd District chairwoman. A dentist in Mishawaka, Fleming is a member of the St. Joseph County Commissioners.

Brenda Goff: The 8th District vice chairwoman. Goff is the southwest Indiana regional director for U.S. Sen. Dan Coats. She has been an 8th District GOP officer since 1988.

Misty Dees Hollis: Vice chairwoman of the state committee. She is executive director of the Richmond YMCA and a member of the Richmond City Council.

Rebecca Holwerda: The 1st District vice chairwoman. She is the Northwest Indiana regional director for Coats.

Kyle Hupfer: The 5th District chairman. He is the chief administrative officer and general counsel for Westfield-based IMMI, which designs and manufactures safety systems. He is a former director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources under Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Thomas John: The 7th District chairman. A partner for Ice Miller LLP in Indianapolis, John works as an attorney and lobbyist. He endorsed Holcomb in his unsuccessful Senate race, ran Rokita's 2002 campaign for secretary of state and is a friend of Brooks and her family.

Barbara Knochel: The 4th District vice chairwoman. A past officer for the Tippecanoe County Republican Party, Knochel is a Buck Creek resident and township trustee. She is a former member of the West Lafayette City Council.

Barbara Krisher: The 3rd District chairwoman. She is the Aboite Township trustee in Fort Wayne.

C. Richard Martin: The 8th District chairman. Martin is a patent attorney in Evansville and former chairman of the Warrick County Republican Party.

Barb McClellan: Secretary of the state committee. She's the longest-serving officer on the panel.

Jamey Noel: Chairman of the 9th District and Clark County Republican Party. Noel is the sheriff of Clark County.

Jennifer Ping: The 7th District vice chairwoman. She is a principal at Bose Public Affairs Group, a government affairs and consulting group. She is a former Marion County GOP chairwoman.

Chuck Williams: The 1st District chairman. He's a member of the Indiana Dunes Tourism Board of Directors.

Mark Wynn: The 6th District chairman. An attorney for Jenner Pattison Sutter & Wynn LLP.

Call IndyStar reporter James Briggs at (317) 444-6307. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesEBriggs.

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