President Donald Trump exacted revenge on Indiana Republican legislators who foiled his redistricting push last year in the state, backing challengers who unseated five incumbents in Tuesday’s primaries, NBC News projects. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.One other GOP state senator who faced a Trump-endorsed opponent was locked in a tight race, while another survived. The double-digit defeats of the five incumbents, some of whom are veterans of the Indiana Legislature, underscore the influence Trump continues to wield over the Republican Party, even as his approval rating among Americans broadly sags amid rising gas prices and the Iran war. Trump’s intervention in the typically quiet local primary races attracted a flood of money and national attention. Roughly $12 million was spent on advertising across the seven contests with a Trump-endorsed challenge to a sitting state senator, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Most of that came from Trump-allied outside groups opposing the incumbents. The Republican-led state Senate dealt Trump a rare rebuke when it voted down a new congressional map he backed that was designed to result in two additional seats for the GOP. It was part of a broader mid-decade redistricting battle playing out across the country ahead of this fall’s midterm elections, when control of the narrowly divided U.S. House will be up for grabs. Several other GOP-led states redrew their maps at Trump’s urging. But ultimately, the heavy-handed pressure campaign from Trump and his allies backfired in Indiana. Six months later, several of those lawmakers paid the price for crossing Trump.“Big night for MAGA in Indiana. Proud to have helped elect more conservative Republicans to the Indiana State Senate,” U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., whose aligned groups spent heavily ahead of Tuesday’s primaries, wrote in a post on X. State Sen. Travis Holdman, who has served in the Senate since 2008 and is the third-most powerful Republican in the chamber, was defeated by real estate agent Blake Fiechter. Fiechter briefly left the race in February, telling local media he didn’t have the resources to compete, but changed his mind after a White House visit in March.Indiana state Sen. Jim Buck. Christine Tannous / IndyStar via USA Today Network file80-year-old state Sen. Jim Buck was unseated by Tipton County Commission member Tracey Powell after serving in the Legislature since 1994. Buck, who was facing his first primary since joining the state Senate in 2008, had the support of Mike Pence, the former vice president and Indiana governor. State Sen. Greg Walker was set to retire last year after 20 years in the chamber, but reversed course amid the redistricting fight, where he notably broke down in tears speaking about his fear for the future of the party if the Legislature caved to Trump’s demands. He lost Tuesday to state Rep. Michelle Davis, who launched her campaign before Walker decided to run again, but ended up staying in the primary race and won Trump’s endorsement. Indiana state Sen. Greg Walker. Mykal McEldowney / IndyStar via USA Today Network fileElsewhere, state Sen. Linda Rogers, who owns and manages a golf course and a home building company, lost her primary to Dr. Brian Schmutzler, an anesthesiologist.And state Sen. Dan Dernulc, who represents a district in the northern part of the state near Chicago, was defeated by Trevor De Vries, an insurance broker. But one state senator who drew Trump’s ire, Greg Goode, won his primary Tuesday. Goode bested Vigo County Council member Brenda Wilson, who was backed by Trump, and Alexandra Wilson, a network engineer. Indiana state Sen. Greg Goode.Christine Tannous / IndyStar via USA Today NetworkAs NBC News reported last month, White House officials and Trump allies aggressively sought to push Alexandra Wilson out of the race, fearing she’d act as a spoiler in the race and help Goode survive. The two challengers share a surname but are not related.One of the primaries remained too close to call Tuesday night. With nearly all of the expected vote in, state Sen. Spencer Deery led Paula Copenhaver, an aide to Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, by 3 votes. It was the most expensive of the seven primaries with Trump-backed challengers, with more than $3 million poured into ads in a district of approximately 135,000 people. Deery served as an aide to former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels when he was the president of Purdue University and had his endorsement.A new congressional map in Indiana that President Donald Trump lobbied for would have created two additional GOP-leaning seats.Christine Tannous / IndyStar via USA Today Network fileTrump also waded into one of the open primaries for the seat currently held by retiring state Sen. Eric Bassler, who voted against the re-drawn congressional map. The president backed former state Rep. Jeff Ellington, who won the Republican primary over two opponents Tuesday.There was an eighth Republican on the ballot Tuesday, state Sen. Rick Niemeyer, who opposed the redistricting effort, but Trump did not back his primary challenger.
Source link
