In Indiana, a bad Republican beats a good Democrat

[LymphocyteLover]

https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/james-briggs/2022/11/20/destiny-wells-diego-morales-indiana-secretary-of-state-election-results/69661647007/

Piece discusses electoral prospects of Dems in Indiana

Morales was a terrible candidate-- an Trump election denier with a criminal past-- and Wells was a great candidate. Really sad state of affairs here.

"Indiana’s Republican lean is a constant variable in Indiana. Beyond that, though, Democrats see three trends specific to this year that wiped out any chance of Wells winning: low voter turnout in Democratic-leaning Marion County, straight-ticket voting (in favor of Republicans) in rural counties and an unusually competitive congressional election in the 1st District that cut off a Democratic stronghold in Northwest Indiana.

Republican Jennifer-Ruth Green’s strong performance against U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan hurt Wells in Lake, Porter and La Porte counties. Even though Mrvan pulled off re-election to a second term, that’s an area where Democrats historically have run up the score. Wells lost to Morales in Porter and La Porte counties while winning by 9 points in Lake County. The tight race brought an influx of outside ad spending that turned out votes for Republicans, including Morales.

“In rural townships that (used to) run reliably Democratic, they’re now casting straight-ticket Republican votes at a pace of 2-to-1,” Shaw Friedman, a LaPorte attorney who is a DNC member representing northern Indiana, told me. “It became acute in 2020 and even more so this year. If you look across Northwest Indiana, there’s just a swath cut among folks who used to be our bread and butter.”

Outside of Marion County, Democrats aren’t gaining ground anywhere at a fast enough rate to overcome their losses in Northwest Indiana and other parts of the state. Carmel continues to be a rare (though unreliable) bright spot for Democrats. Wells beat Morales by 6 points in Carmel even as she lost Hamilton County by 4 points."


This piece here also discusses the sad state of affairs of Indiana politics--


https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2022/11/18/choices-made-on-election-day-could-mean-hoosiers-pay-big-price-later/69655293007/

On Tuesday night, I sat with my friends in my county's Democrat headquarters and watched as the election results came in. I watched as one by one, most of these highly qualified individuals — many of whom I've gotten to know quite well and call friends — were passed over in favor of their opponent.

This is despite the fact that they went out every day to speak with voters, showed up to town halls and debates, and completed online surveys and questionnaires so voters could better understand their positions, while the vast majority of Republicans — at the express instruction of their party chairs — no-showed these public forums and failed to answer online surveys or interview requests. And all because they simply didn't have the "right" letter by their name.

So, Destiny Wells, accomplished attorney and longtime Army reservist, lost to an election denier who not only illegally voted himself in 2018, but was also twice fired from the Secretary of State's office that he will now run.
Democratic Secretary of State candidate Destiny Wells speaks with local constituents Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, at Sugar Creek Winery in Carmel. She hopes to beat embattled Republican candidate Diego Morales.


In Zionsville, biotech and pharmaceutical researcher Jen Bass-Patino lost to an evangelical, anti-choice, anti-science anti-vaxxer. Youth chaplain and community volunteer Zach Heimach lost to a transphobic, extremist doctor who is accused of causing the death of a patient due to negligence in northeast Indiana. ... A school board in Hamilton County — ranked among the healthiest, wealthiest, most educated places in the country — was just overrun by anti-public school conspiracy theorists who accuse teachers of handing out porn to students and allowing them to defecate in litter boxes."

[blueinredohio]

1. I don't expect much more

they're right next door to all our assholes.

[LymphocyteLover]

2. Yeah... Indiana is basically the northernmost southern state

really sucks

[Celerity]

19. North Dakota is Bama with a Canadian border and almost no black people (other than oil workers or

workers associated with the industry's growth who came in the last 10, 15 years or so).

[Hermit-The-Prog]

3. It all comes down to Fox, Sinclair, and AM radio.

Add in an M$M that's jealous of Fox ratings, and there's little to counter the RW propaganda machine in many places.

[LymphocyteLover]

14. A huge part of it

[D_Master81]

4. 2008 changed Indiana

Indiana has gotten the rap of being a southern state in the north but when I was growing up we had a Dem governor for 16 consecutive years. Later Evan Bayh was 1 of our Senators and Joe Donnelly spent 1 term as well. For a few years we had 2 Dem senators. When Obama won the state in 2008 I don’t know what happened but the state turned hard to the right. Redistricting was part of it in the house but there’s no state wide Dems anymore for 6 years. None.

[shrike3]

8. I live in a blue area of Indiana.

Obama winning messed up the heads of so many people, they went red and never looked back. The culture here is as bad as people think it is. I'm somewhat insulated from it because our area is blue, but still. Racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia. And among union guys. I avoid most of our local union members for that reason.

Indiana does have lots of recommend it. Beautiful natural areas, lake Michigan in the north, Indianapolis, which is a great city. Even Fort Wayne, on the northeast side, has a lot to offer. But the political climate is -- ugh. A friend worked for Mrvan's campaign. Apparently he was targeted by a PAC out of California: Green was their choice to knock him out. So much money, so many advertising. A lot of blatant lies, but people don't know the difference.

[maxrandb]

15. Gee, things were kind of OK, but then a black man won the state

Whatever could it be that caused such a sharp turn to red?

BTW - You could say the same about Ohio and Wisconsin.

Gee, what was it about President Obama that riled all these "rural" folks up?

[LymphocyteLover]

16. Yeah, I don't get it either. But it definitely got worse under Trump.

[Diamond_Dog]

5. You could say the same for Ohio

Vance winning over Ryan. Same scenario.

[LymphocyteLover]

17. Yep, we are in very similar boats, with the state legisalatures in rock solid GOp control

I had hopes that the overturning of Roe would change things and in summer the IN leg specifically passed an anti-abortion law-- and it fucking did nothing to voting here in the midterms. I thought there would be some push to flip statehouse seats but there was so little energy from the state party. So frustrating.

[JI7]

6. That's true of most places where Republicans win

[Celerity]

20. Rethugs: The Shithole Borg

[Freethinker65]

7. I suppose watch what happens in Michigan?

If Michigan thrives (as it should) under Democratic leadership that values education, technology, science, preservation of natural resources that attracts tourists and residents, and civil rights, Indiana/Ohio will start to see changes.

It will take years to undo the damage and there are areas in Indiana that seem to have pride in their ignorance. (I have a friend that grew up in rural Indiana and my son attended college for a few years at a small liberal arts school in rural Indiana).

I was actually in Marion County, Indiana two weeks ago. I saw dilapidated barns and structures painted with "If Obama is for it, I am against it" crossed out and replaced with Hillary/ crossed out and replaced with Biden. The irony burned.

[shrike3]

9. I believe you.

It's astounding. The ignorance in the rural areas. Yikes.

[LymphocyteLover]

13. Rural southern Illinois isn't that different than here and Illinois is very blue

Something got to those rural folk

I know what you are saying and can hope that is true but I think these folks are lost for this generation.

[Celerity]

21. Take away the Chicago metro area & Illinois is as red as Trumpy's mushroom dipped in strawberry jam

[tritsofme]

22. That's true. But take away the Chicago metro area, and 75% of the state's population disappears.

[Celerity]

23. And yet they still would get 2 Senators (granted so would Chicago if it became a separate state, so

it would be a wash there).

The REALLY frustrating thing is, rural areas do NOT have to mean RW areas. Sweden is a perfect example of this. The rural north (Norrbotten especially) here has long been a left wing and centre left (on a Swedish scale, so more to the left than the US left) area of electoral strength.

[LymphocyteLover]

25. LOL!!!

[maxsolomon]

10. My sister lives in Greg Pence's district - SE IN

both her daughters GTFO and moved to Chicago, where they're very happy to be out of Indiana.

3 of their friends who stayed behind:
1. pregnant in HS, trump voter, 2 abortions for pregnancies resulting from affairs.
2. addicted to meth, lost 3 kids to the state.
3. in jail for kidnapping his out-of-wedlock child.

rural indiana is a hot mess.

[D_Master81]

11. Yeah but...

It’s a hot mess but they’re safe from the scary minorities. For instance in the county I grew up in the county roads are falling apart and some are being turned back to dirt roads. Think about that. In 2022 some paved roads are so bad and no money to repair them to the point the county is giving up and turning them to dirt roads.

[LymphocyteLover]

12. Oh yes, truly

[AwakeAtLast]

18. Soooo glad I left five years ago!

It was bad then, I can only imagine how much worse it is now!

[Norbert]

24. It's the Rush Limbaugh effect

You tell listeners over the airwaves for over 30 years that Democrats and liberals suck you get people that vote straight ticket GOP unconditionally. Rush was extremely popular North of the Dayton, Ohio area. When I helped in my companiy's equipment installation I would stop at traffic lights. I would often hear the car next to me with his show in. These people were riveted on what he had to say and probably believed every word of it.

We are going through this in Ohio and I'm sure Iowa and Missouri are too. If the shill hadn't kicked the bucket when he did I'm sure we would have been in big trouble in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.