‘No, it’s on:’ Beckwith swipes at Alting, and other primary challenges
Lt. Gov. Beckwith, already backing a primary rival, goes after Sen. Ron Alting for getting a ‘laugh at my expense.’ Second Republican going for Klinker’s seat demands GOP chair Tracy Brown step down.
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‘NO, IT’S ON:’ BECKWITH SWIPES AT ALTING, AND OTHER PRIMARY CHALLENGES
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, already on board to back his friend and Republican challenger Richard Bagsby in Indiana Senate District 22, went on social media this week with a reel that took objection to a side comment state Sen. Ron Alting said about him during a Senate committee hearing this week.
“I was told that fellow Republican, Ron Alting, a senator in the Indiana Senate, had a good laugh at my expense,” Beckwith said, throwing air quotes around the word “Republican,” in a video reel shot in his Statehouse office and posted Friday.
The moment in question: Alting, a Lafayette Republican, did, in fact, get some laughs from fellow legislators when he asked during a hearing whether he had to get the lieutenant governor involved in a vote as a tie-breaker. (In his role as head of the Indiana Senate, Beckwith casts deciding votes when there are ties.)
Assured that wasn’t the case in this matter, Alting said: “God bless us. Thank you.” Asked later in the hearing whether Alting meant to have his microphone live for the comments, Alting smiled: “No, it’s on.” That generated a few more laughs from the Senate committee.
Beckwith responded by launching into what amounted to a legislative diss track targeting Alting’s voting record.
“But you know when people weren’t laughing, Ron?” Beckwith said, pulling out the air quotes, again. “Back in 2022 when you, a ‘Republican,’ voted against banning abortion in Indiana. Or that same year, you joined Democrats and voted to protect men playing in women’s sports. Or how about last year, when you voted against banning DEI practices in our government and our schools?
“So feel free to keep laughing at my expense, Ron,” Beckwith said. “But just know conservatives in Indiana and in your district aren’t laughing at all.”
The issues raised by Beckwith paralleled ones Bagsby, a Tippecanoe County Republican, targeted in his primary challenge of Alting in a Senate district that includes Lafayette, eastern part of Tippecanoe County and Carroll County.
Beckwith has promised to be aggressive about backing primary candidates he considers not conservative enough. (He’s made a point of targeting state Sen. Spencer Deery, a West Lafayette Republican who stood against a redistricting bill backed by President Donald Trump and pushed by Beckwith. Paula Copenhaver, the Fountain County Republican Party chair challenging Deery in the Indiana Senate District 23 race, is on Beckwith’s staff.)
Beckwith has been present in Bagsby’s campaign, introducing him during his campaign announcement in May 2025 and last weekend offering a keynote speech during an event hosted by Bagsby, called the District 22 Reagan Dinner. (Bagsby told BiL in 2025: “I like to say, Micah and I, we’re brothers from another mother.”)
Alting defended his votes in the wake of Beckwith’s reel Friday.
“I’m proudly pro-life and support exceptions for the life of the mother, rape and incest — the same position President Trump has outlined,” Alting said. (In 2022, Alting called the near-total ban on abortion “mean and cruel” and “an attack on all women,” saying that measure’s exemptions for abortions for women who were raped or victims of incest were too restrictive.)
“The 2022 bill went beyond that, and I voted my conscience and my district,” Alting said. “I supported House Bill 1041 to protect fairness in NCAA women’s sports and voted for Senate Bill 182 as a stronger, workable approach on DEI.”
Senate Bill 182, which cleared the Senate in January, would prohibit transgender students at public K-12 schools and state universities from using restrooms or locker rooms that match their gender identity. House Bill 1041, which became law in 2025, expanded the state’s ban on transgender girls in K-12 sports to college athletics.
“Legislating is about getting policy right, not picking and choosing votes for political theater,” Alting said Friday. “I serve District 22 — not social media.”
SECOND REPUBLICAN CHALLENGER FOR SHEILA KLINKER’S SEAT DEMANDS TRACY BROWN STEP DOWN AS COUNTY GOP CHAIR DURING CAMPAIGN
A second Republican challenger running in Indiana House District 27, looking for the nomination to face Democratic state Rep. Sheila Klinker in November, on Friday called on Tracy Brown to step down as chairman of the Tippecanoe County Republican Party to avoid “an inherent conflict of interest” during a primary campaign for the seat.
Oscar Alvarez, a Lafayette Republican who ran against Klinker in 2024, posted statements Friday that Brown would have unfair advantages in their head-to-head primary in May if he remained party chairman – “a role that carries influence over party operations, messaging, resources and the overall administration of the primary process.”
“Republicans expect their party chair to be a neutral steward of the process, not an active participant with a vested interest in the outcome,” Alvarez said.
Brown said he received Alvarez’s request Friday.
Brown said he didn’t plan to step down but would continue to provide Alvarez with access to the same party data and information offered to all Republican candidates. He said party chairs have often run for elected office, including in local primaries, “but this is the first time I can remember a party chair has been asked to step down.”
“I guess you have to look at what at the resources are,” Brown said. “The party doesn’t give money to candidates in a primary, so that resource is not going to be an issue.”
Brown, a three-term Tippecanoe County commissioner and two-term county sheriff, said he filed to run against Klinker – a Democrat who was first elected in 1982 and is running for a 26th two-year term – after reading that she wanted to run “one more time.” Brown said he’d been considering a run for the General Assembly for years and that this year seemed like the right time to challenge Klinker.
Alvarez also questioned the timing of Brown’s filing for the Indiana House District 27 race, coming on Feb. 5, a day before the final day for candidates to file. Alvarez said Brown jumping in without much warning left “virtually no time for other Republicans to evaluate the race or organize a campaign.”
Brown said he’d filed near the end of a monthlong filing period because he wanted to sure the campaign against Klinker was something he was ready to take up.
“I have been encouraged to run for this seat for a number of years,” Brown said. “But that ultimate decision is going to be life-changing one way or the other. You want to be sure that you’ve that you’ve considered everything.”
Alvarez filed the morning after at the Statehouse, before the noon Feb. 6 deadline.
“I had already made a decision, months back, but my job made it challenging,” Alvarez told Based in Lafayette. “So I took advantage of time when it mattered.”
In 2024, Klinker received 61.5% of the vote over Alvarez.
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I'd really hoped this state had reached its rock bottom with Rokita, but Beckwith proved me wrong on that. A pathetic excuse for a Christian, elected by the kind of Christians who have no interest in the teachings of Christ.
let's see what Lt. Gov. Beckwith's "reach" is among Republican primary election voters. He seems to be on a "take no prisoners" venture. Will responsible voters follow his questionable lead ? Alting seems to have answered Beckwith's charges. He defended his voting record on abortion restrictions well. However, Alting still disappointed many with his stance on redistricting.