Deery widens gap enough to win tight, Trump-fueled Indiana Senate District 23 primary
A single vote left in Parke County went state Deery’s way Wednesday morning, giving him a 3-vote advantage over Republican challenger Paula Copenhaver with just 2 outstanding provisional ballots left.
Note: This edition has been updated with comments from Spencer Deery.
State Sen. Spencer Deery emerged Wednesday with an apparent win in the Indiana Senate District 23 primary, after he picked up one vote he needed from the lone provisional ballot considered that morning by the Parke County Election Board.
That vote put Deery, a West Lafayette Republican, up three votes over challenger Paula Copenhaver.
The final two provisional ballots reportedly left to consider and count in a race where both candidates declared or predicted victory after initial results on the May 5 Election Night are in Deery’s home Tippecanoe County. The county’s election board there is scheduled to meet Friday afternoon.
With suspense off Tippecanoe County’s pending results, the final ones in the six-county Senate district and not enough for Copenhaver to close the gap, the contentious primary is likely heading to a recount.
Copenhaver did not immediately respond for comment Wednesday morning.
Deery was thanking voters and asking the district to look forward.
“Campaigns are hard, and primaries can be especially difficult. But now is the time to begin healing and move forward together. And we must,” Deery said.
“Too many Hoosier families are hurting. They feel it at the gas pump, in their property taxes, medical bills, the cost of childcare, and in the struggles facing rural towns and schools across our district,” Deery said. “Whether you have supported me for years, just joined this campaign, or never came around at all, the stakes are simply too high to continue to fight over yesterday’s battles. As I have for the last four years, I promise to do everything I can to represent every community in this district with professionalism, integrity, and respect for the many perspectives that make our district so unique.”
Copenhaver, who declared on May 5 that provisional ballots would fall her way in a 10-day period after primary day, has not commented about a potential recount.
Candidates have until May 19 to file for a recount or to contest the election, according to the Indiana Election Division. Party chairs in Indiana Senate District 23 have until noon May 22 to do the same. State election law says candidates asking for a recount needs to specify which precincts they want to challenge and would be responsible for paying for it.
The past week has been tense for both campaigns, which found themselves in a national spotlight. Spending on the race was estimated at $3 million, including from allies of President Donald Trump who poured more than $2 million into a dark money campaign aimed at unseating the first-term West Lafayette Republican over his opposition to a White House plan to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms.
A four-vote lead for Deery after Election Night frittered down to two after provisional ballots – including those from someone who didn’t bring proper ID to the polls, didn’t appear at the address on their voter registration or were challenged in some way – were counted Monday in Fountain and Montgomery counties.
The single provisional ballot counted Wednesday in Parke County belonged to a voter who didn’t show up in voter rolls after their registration was mistakenly merged into that of a twin, according to the county clerk’s office. Once deemed valid Wednesday morning, the ballot went to Deery, according to the Parke County Clerk’s office.
Warren and Vermillion counties, also part of Senate District 23, reported zero provisional ballots after counting results May 5.
No counties in the sprawling Senate District 23 reported outstanding military mail-in ballots that would affect the Republican primary.
If the results hold – standing at 6,337-6,334 in Deery’s favor, despite Copenhaver winning in five of the six counties – it would be the second consecutive Senate District 23 primary that he beat Copenhaver. Copenhaver, the former Fountain County clerk and current Fountain County Republican Party chair, finished third in a four-candidate primary in 2022.
The winner in the Republican primary will face David Sanders, a West Lafayette City Council member, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
What’s next: Two provisional ballots in Indiana Senate District 23 will be reviewed by the election board at 1 p.m. Friday, May 15, at the Tippecanoe County Office Building, 20 N. Third St. in Lafayette.
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