In Indiana, a bad Republican beats a good Democrat [View all]

[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."