An unusual ballot access case in a three-way Indiana Statehouse race where President Donald Trump has made an endorsement now has a new twist.
The Clay County circuit court judge did not make a decision March 18 on whether Alexandra Wilson could stay on the Republican primary ballot alongside Trump-endorsed Vigo County Council member Brenda Wilson and incumbent state Sen. Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute, who voted against Trump’s redistricting push last year and attracted Trump’s revenge.
But the judge did decide to block the three county election boards in the state Senate district from mailing any absentee ballots out to voters until a decision could be reached in the case ― by a different judge.
“Let’s just stop,” Judge David Thomas told the courtroom. “We’re in a minefield; let’s not walk forward.”
The minefield is this: Prominent attorney and Gov. Mike Braun ally Jim Bopp is representing a voter who challenged Alexandra Wilson’s candidacy ostensibly on technical grounds but also because they believe Wilson was recruited specifically to confuse voters and dilute votes away from the Trump-endorsed candidate by the same last name. Wilson’s attorney and the Vigo County GOP chair, where she is from, vehemently deny this.
The technical grounds was whether or not the law prohibiting candidates with felony convictions applies to Alexandra Wilson. Her attorney, Samantha Dewester, told the Indiana Election Commission in February that Wilson indeed pleaded guilty to a felony charge of resisting law enforcement in 2010, but this was pleaded down to a misdemeanor and entered into the record as such. Nonetheless, the state election commission deadlocked 2-2, allowing Wilson to remain on the primary ballot.
Bopp then asked a judge to review the commission’s decision, and asked for an injunction. On March 16, Wilson’s counsel requested a change of judge, as is their right under trial rules. Meanwhile, the statutory deadline for counties to mail out absentee ballots to voters who applied for them is rapidly approaching on March 21.
“Our concern is the mailing out of ballots with her name on it before a judge has a chance to rule,” Bopp told Judge Thomas on March 18.
This is an unusually high-stakes Statehouse primary. The incumbent, Goode, was the only Senate Republican to hold a public town hall fielding the opinions of his constituents on redistricting, and then voted with their overwhelming opinion against it. This state Senate race is just one of six in which Trump has gotten involved, issuing boilerplate endorsements on Truth Social to candidates vying to oust incumbents who voted against redistricting. In one of those races, though, the incumbent is retiring.
Thomas said he would accept proposed language for the injunction from both sides before issuing his order later on March 18 or first thing March 19. He said he’s not sure yet if the injunction should be open-ended or have some kind of deadline, nodding to concerns from the defendents that finding a new special judge for the case could take weeks.
“It’s a difficult decision because there’s no authority on this, so I’ll have to use common sense,” Thomas said.
While one side got their stay and another got their change of judge request, Dewester said she doesn’t see this outcome as a good compromise.
“Issuing any kind of stay would be a horrific decision,” she told the judge, saying it would disenfrancise the voters of three counties ― Vigo, Clay and Sullivan ― who would have less time with their absentee ballots.
The Indiana attorney general’s office is defending the Indiana Election Commission in this case, while Wilson and her attorney entered into it as intervenors. Brenda Wilson also works for the attorney general’s office as an outreach representative.
Contact state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on X @kayla_dwyer17.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Judge to pause absentee ballot mailing in Trump-endorsed state Senate race
Reporting by Kayla Dwyer, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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