INDIANAPOLIS -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels said Monday he wants to move most of Indiana to the Central time zone and have it observe daylight-saving time statewide.

Discussion

TIME ZONES Discuss: Time For A Switch? Survey: Time Zone Preference?

Daniels' statement was part of a series of economic development initiatives he announced.

He said the time change would put Indiana within two hours of everyone in the continental United States and make it easier for companies inside and outside the state to do business.

Currently, 82 counties in Indiana are in the Eastern time zone, but 77 of them do not observe daylight-saving time. Five counties in the southeast are in the Eastern time zone and do reset their clocks.

Five counties in the northwest corner of the state near Chicago and five in the southwest corner in and around Evansville are in the Central time zone and observe daylight-saving time.

Last month, Lt. Gov. Kathy Davis said all of Indiana should observe daylight-saving and Central time. She said the state won't be competitive as a distribution and logistics center unless it makes the switch.

Gov. Joe Kernan also said in January that he'd like to see the state observe daylight-saving time, but he didn't indicate his time-zone preference, RTV6's Norman Cox reported.

Kernan, a Democrat who was elevated from lieutenant governor in September when Gov. Frank O'Bannon died after a stroke, will seek his first full term in this year's November election.