Sharon Negele sizes up her upset loss in House District 13 GOP primary

Could passing a LEAP pipeline bill, shelved by General Assembly Republicans, have helped Rep. Negele overcome a surge of rural frustration that gave challenger Matt Commons a decisive primary win?

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NEGELE SIZES UP HOW SHE LOST HOUSE DISTRICT 13 IN GOP PRIMARY

Matt Commons’ upset win over longtime state Rep. Sharon Negele in Indiana House District 13 was making the Election Day follow-up/tidbit reporting rounds as one of the bigger surprises at the Statehouse, a day after ballots were counted from Tuesday’s primary.

But it had been growingly apparent that Commons had tapped into growing frustrations across a district that includes parts of Tippecanoe County and a huge swath of rural counties. To a point that even Negele – who built herself into one of the top Republicans in the Indiana House during her 12 years in the General Assembly – wasn’t totally surprised by Tuesday’s results.

“Disappointed, sure,” Negele, an Attica Republican who hadn’t faced a serious challenge in previous re-election bids, said Wednesday.

State Rep. Sharon Negele. (Photo: House GOP)

“We knew he had a tremendous ground game and has been doing it since the fall. We knew that there were several issues that were just polarizing,” Negele said. “Someone’s going to get blamed for some of that stuff. We knew those issues and that it was going to be an uphill battle.”

The margin, though … even Commons said: “We thought we could get it. We didn’t expect a 20-point win, either.”