Winners, upsets and other takeaways in Tuesday’s primary
A look at contested races, a middling turnout in Tippecanoe County and a surprise performance by someone not even in the race, all playing out in Tuesday’s primary election.
Here are a few takeaways from contested races, a middling turnout in Tippecanoe County and a surprise performance by someone not even in the race, all playing out in Tuesday’s primary election.
Tippecanoe County commissioner: David Byers, now serving his fourth term as commissioner in District 2, took a 10-point victory over Jeff Findlay, a retired owner of Findlay Drilling Co., in a challenge born out of the community’s fight against the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s pipeline plan that was looking to send tens of millions of gallons of water from western Tippecanoe County to the LEAP district two counties away, near Lebanon.
“This one’s sweet,” Byers said. “Just because of who the candidate was and that we knew Jeff had a strong following and a set issue. I think, personally, he was a one-trick pony because he always wanted to talk water, and there’s more to being commissioner than just the water issue.”
Findlay, who joined the race after a series rousing conversations from the stage during community meetings about the LEAP pipeline, said he told volunteers and those who recruited him from the We the People organization that “we won.”
“We got people thinking, we got them off their butts,” Findlay said. “(They told me), ‘You know, you know about water. Just tell them what you know and give it to them straight.’ Everybody seemed to enjoy that. They like honesty, and honesty got me down this far in the race.”
Byers, a dairy farmer, said there were a handful of projects on the horizon for the county that he wanted to be a part of. But he said a fifth term, if he wins in November, would his last.
“I guess my cows can wait for another day,” Byers said. “We’re going to find out, celebrating with a bottle of milk and enjoying the evening.”
Byers faces Steven Mayoras, a Libertarian, in November.
Tom Murtaugh, running for re-election in District 1, was unopposed in the Republican primary. Jaime Ortiz, a Libertarian, is slated to be on the November ballot.
Tippecanoe County Council, at large: A pair of five-way primaries on either side of the aisle produced three Republican incumbents – Kevin Underwood, Barry Richard and John Basham – and three Democratic challengers – Katy Bunder, Ben Carson and Amanda Eldridge. “It’s going to take knocking on a lot of doors,” Carson said about beating any of the three incumbents for seats on the fiscal body of county government. “At the local level, a lot of the partisan politics starts to go away, especially once they’re face to face with somebody. It’s easy to yell at your TV screen with some national candidate. But those issues seem so disconnected when you’re talking to someone about the local housing issue or the local water issue. … That’s how we have to do it.”
Indiana House District 13: Matt Commons, a high school teacher, Purple Heart veteran and Warren County Council member, pulled off a primary upset over state Rep. Sharon Negele, an Attica Republican who was among the ranking party member in the Indiana House since first being elected in 2012.
“I’m over the moon, at a loss for words,” Commons said.
Negele won decisively in Tippecanoe County, but Commons more than made up for that with sizeable margins in other counties that make up the sprawling, largely rural District 13. Commons took 60% of the vote.
Negele campaigned on experience at the Statehouse and ongoing work on state legislation intended to restrict the water draw from western Tippecanoe County aquifer for the LEAP district. Commons said he focused on mounting concerns in surrounding counties over carbon sequestration plans.
“I haven’t met Republicans or Democrats, alike, that are OK with that,” Commons said. “Rural Indiana needs a louder voice at the table in Indianapolis. And that was a big part of it. … We just don’t fee represented, and that’s not a dig at Sharon. That’s just how we felt and it came to a head in this election.”
Negele wasn’t immediately available for questions Tuesday night.
Commons will face Edward Moyer Jr., a Democrat and president of the Hillsboro Town Council, in November.
In another contested Indiana House race in Tippecanoe County, state Rep. Mark Genda, a Frankfort Republican, beat Joe Sturm, a Lauramie Township Board member from Clarks Hill, for the nomination in House District 41. Genda will face Democrat Dan Sikes in November.
Governor: U.S. Sen. Mike Braun took 40% of the vote in a six-way primary for the Republican nomination for governor. Braun won Tippecanoe County, as well, but with 30.1% of the vote. He was followed in Tippecanoe County by Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch (23.4%), Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden (20.8%), former secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers (16%), Jamie Reitenour (6.1%) and former Attorney General Curtis Hill (3.6%). For more on the statewide results and on Braun’s matchup with Democratic nominee Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater, here’s a report from the Indiana Capital Chronicle’s Whitney Downard: “Braun nabs early win in the Republican primary for governor.”
U.S. House, 4th District: Congressman Jim Baird, a Greencastle Republican looking for his fourth term in the 4th District, held off a challenge two years in the making by Charles Bookwalter, an Army veteran and business owner from Thorntown campaigned that Baird isn’t conservative enough and too often sides with what he considers big-spending Republicans and Democrats. Bookwalter attempted to run against Baird in the 2022 primary, only to be booted from the ballot when the party challenged whether he met state law that requires voting in two consecutive primaries to be eligible. Baird took 64.7% to Bookwalter’s 27.2%, with another challenger, John Piper, pulling in 8%.
“I am deeply humbled and honored by the unwavering support and trust the people of the 4th District continue to entrust in me,” Baird said. “As always, I am committed to upholding this trust and work tirelessly to address our constituents' most pressing concerns with a voice at the legislative table.”
On the Democratic side, Derrick Holder, a paralegal from Martinsville, beat Rimpi Girn, an insurance broker from Hamilton County, and will face Baird in November.
Presidential race: Nikki Haley, on the Indiana ballot but out of the race for months, wound up 31.2% of the vote in Tippecanoe County against Donald Trump. Statewide, Haley had 21.7% of the vote, with 93% of the results in by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Haley’s greatest percentages outside Tippecanoe County came in Boone County (32%), Hamilton County (34%) and Marion County (35%). Haley received 10% or greater of the vote in all 92 counties in Tuesday’s Republican primary. For more on that situation, Politico’s Adam Wren and Madison Fernandez had this report: “Unexpected warning signs for Trump in busy Indiana primary.”
President Joe Biden was uncontested on the Democratic ballot.
Voter turnout: For election that featured a thick field of Republican candidates for governor and a handful of contested local races, voter turnout was among the lowest since 2000 during presidential election years in Tippecanoe County. The total: 14,939 ballots, which accounted for 13% of the registered voters in the county. The only smaller vote count was in 2004, with 10,834 ballots. The next lowest was 16,245 in 2012. The largest: 39,774 in 2008 (when the Democratic nomination between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton was still in play), followed by 38,945 in 2016 (when Donald Trump sewed the Republican nomination over Ted Cruz, and Bernie Sanders was still campaigning for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton).
Full results in Tippecanoe County: Here’s a link.
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