Indiana Republican Primaries Deliver Message on Election Integrity Bill

Republican primary voters in Indiana delivered a rebuke to state Senate incumbents who opposed a congressional redistricting plan supported by President Trump, with challengers securing at least five of seven targeted seats as of late Tuesday evening.

The victories by Trump-endorsed candidates sent a signal to U.S. Senate Republicans who have not yet moved forward with the SAVE America Act, an election integrity measure that would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for federal elections and photo identification at the polls.

One senator involved in the state campaign said everyone in Indiana politics should have learned that President Trump remains the single most popular Republican among state voters and that the state deserves conservatives aligned with those voters. Spending on advertising for the Indiana state Senate primaries totaled $13.5 million, according to ad tracker AdImpact, marking a 4,736 percent increase from the last cycle.

The majority of that spending came from groups allied with Trump targeting the incumbents.

Senate is currently out of session this week. Majority leadership has not scheduled extended floor debate on the SAVE America Act despite support for the measure among many Republicans. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said he supports the bill but that the 60-vote filibuster threshold presents an obstacle.

President Trump has called for use of the nuclear option to change Senate rules and pass the legislation along with other priorities. Thune has described changing the filibuster rules as a nonstarter within the conference. Trump told reporters he was disappointed with the approach taken by some Republicans on the issue.

A House group urged the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act without further delays.

Republican state senators joined 10 Democrats last December to block a mid-decade redrawing of the state's congressional maps. The plan, which had been urged by Trump, would have netted Republicans two additional seats in the narrowly divided U.S. House.

Incumbents who voted against the map cited fairness principles. One senator told a state publication that voters did not want the new map and could not be bullied. Democrats and some media outlets described the vote as a rejection of Trump and his agenda.

The primary results showed voters rejected several of those incumbents. The campaign against them was driven in part by a senator who helped organize efforts to replace them.

The SAVE America Act has become a priority for Trump and conservative groups ahead of the midterm elections. Supporters argue it is necessary to maintain integrity in federal elections as Democrats pursue map changes in multiple states. Democrats have advanced redistricting efforts in states including California, New York, Virginia and Wisconsin.

In Virginia, a constitutional change led to a map that could give Democrats a significant edge if it survives legal challenges. A Texas senator facing a strong challenge in a runoff has said after careful consideration that he would support Senate rule changes needed to pass the SAVE America Act and related funding measures.

A recent poll showed the challenger leading the incumbent by three percentage points.

“Everyone in Indiana politics should have learned an important lesson today: President Trump is the single most popular Republican among Hoosier voters. Indiana is a conservative state, and we deserve conservatives in our State Senate who have a pulse on Republican voters.”

Trump and allied political action committees have indicated they will spend heavily to support candidates who treat the next two election cycles as critical. The Indiana results are being viewed by some as an early indicator of voter sentiment on these issues.

The ad spending surge reflected the intensity of the contest between incumbents and challengers aligned with the president. Top advertisers included groups that spent millions targeting those who had blocked the redistricting plan.