Multiple Trump-endorsed Statehouse candidates have ousted state lawmakers who voted against redistricting.
Blake Fiechter has been named the presumptive winner of the Senate District 19 race by NBC News and Decision Desk HQ, defeating incumbent Sen. Travis Holdman by more than 22 percentage points. Over in Senate District 21, the two outlets have declared Tipton County Commissioner Tracey Powell, who has the Trump endorsement, the winner over Sen. Jim Buck, R-Kokomo, by a margin of nearly 26 percentage points.
It’s President Donald Trump’s first major wins of election night, after he endorsed challengers to seven incumbents in retribution for the Indiana Senate rejecting his redistricting push.
So far multiple Trump-endorsed candidates have early leads over sitting lawmakers, but at least one incumbent is expected to survive their challenge. NBC News has named Sen. Greg Goode, who voted against redistricting, the winner of Indiana’s Senate District 38, with 54% of the vote in his three-way race with more than half of precincts reporting.
At the time of the redistricting vote, Indiana was the only red state to vote to deny Trump’s push to redraw the congressional maps to give the GOP an advantage in the midterms. A majority of Senate Republicans joined Democrats to vote Indiana’s map down in December; seven of those no-voting senators were on the ballot this primary election.
Trump endorsed a challenger in all seven of those races, plus a newcomer in an open seat. He also endorsed the handful of senators running for reelection who did support redistricting, bringing his total number of endorsements in Indiana Statehouse races to 19.
Incumbency is a tough hill for any challenger to climb, particularly in a low-turnout primary. Many of these incumbents are not used to having challengers at all. That’s why the political talk of the town was to what degree a Trump endorsement would help these challengers mount an upset.
But it wasn’t merely a Trump endorsement assisting the challengers. Outside groups like Turning Point Action, Club For Growth and other political action committees have flooded the Indiana airwaves, social media and mailboxes with millions in advertising spending to urge Hoosiers to reject the “RINO” incumbent and choose the challenger who has Trump’s backing.
Here are the State Senate districts where Trump endorsed challengers, and how they are performing so far.
Senate District 1
Senate District 11
Senate District 19
Senate District 21
Senate District 23
Senate District 38
Senate District 39
Senate District 41
This article will update as election results become available.
Contact IndyStar Statehouse reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on X @kayla_dwyer17.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Multiple outlets: 2 Trump-endorsed Statehouse challengers oust incumbents in Senate race
Reporting by Kayla Dwyer, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
