Republicans spend far more on legislative races than Democrats do

Indianapolis, Indiana – Recognizing the possibility of narrow margins, Republicans are investing heavily in a few legislative contests throughout the state in an effort to preserve the party’s supermajority in the General Assembly.

To break the supermajority and retain all 30 of their present seats in the 100-member House chamber, Democrats would need to gain four seats. Democrats possess just ten of the 50 Senate seats, and it would take an additional seven lawmakers to break the supermajority.

But when it comes to supporting candidates, the parties seem to adopt different strategies:
Democrats receive more of a patchwork approach from different, smaller party organizations operating under different names, whereas individual Republican candidates receive substantial donations from their respective caucuses.

In October alone, the caucus’s governing body, the House Republican Campaign Committee, spent more than $1 million, mostly to support two incumbents, one district where a Republican legislator retired, and a possible pick-up chance in Southern Indiana.

Sen. Aaron Freeman received more than $36,000, or 52%, of the $68,000 spent by the Republican Senate Majority Campaign Committee on its members. Almost all of the money was in-kind, typically in the form of services rather than cash contributions.

In October alone, Freeman reported seven big contributions, which are defined as donations exceeding $10,000 at any point in time or $1,000 or more between reporting periods. In addition to the money from the Senate committee, he also received $17,500 in in-kind contributions from the state party, $28,000 from the central committee of the state party, and $10,000 from the campaign funds of a retired politician.

Over the course of the previous month, Freeman revealed that his party had contributed over $91,000 in direct and in-kind contributions.

Consultant and college professor Katrina Owens is challenging Freeman to represent the southeastern Indianapolis district, which includes parts of Johnson County.

However, Owens is not receiving the same amount of funding from her party.

According to the Secretary of State’s campaign finance webpage, Owens has only received one sizable donation since filing in February: $7,000 from Indiana Senate Democrats for in-kind support earlier this month.

In order to determine where the various political parties were focusing their resources in the pivotal run-up to the election on November 5, the Indiana Capital Chronicle exclusively examined contributions to legislative races from the month of October.

Even though the House Republican Campaign Committee provided funding to 13 Republican candidates for the House, including incumbent lawmakers and newcomers, two men received more than 56% of the funds.

Republican Scott Hawkins of Southern Indiana is rerunning for the seat that was last occupied by Democrat Rep. Rita Fleming. Fleming resigned after the May primary election, and Wendy Dant Chesser was selected in a party caucus to succeed her. In 2022, Hawkins lost to Fleming by fewer than 300 votes, almost defeating him.

House Republicans have contributed over $302,000 to him in the past month, and Dave Hall of Monroe County has received over $291,000. In 2022, Hall defeated Democrat Penny Githens by a mere 74 votes to win the seat.

Thomas Horrocks entered the campaign this year as the Democratic opponent.

The caucus has also increased its expenditures on Rep. Becky Cash, another incumbent with a single term, in recent weeks. Just over $155,000 has been given to Cash in her fight against Democrat Tiffany Stoner.

The final major victory is not yet a caucus member, but he is attempting to replace Republican Rep. Jerry Torr, who is retiring.

Pacers executive Danny Lopez, a Republican, is running against Democrat Matt McNally in a close contest. More than $158,000 has been given to Lopez by the Republican caucus.
Additionally, Lopez received $1,000 from a current Republican senator and $5,000 from the account of a retired member.

Not every contest with extremely close margins has received the same level of attention. Notably, Republican opponent Yvonne Metcalfe has not received any financial backing from the caucus, while Democratic Representative Mitch Gore has narrowly maintained his Indianapolis seat over the past two campaigns.

Only Dant Chesser, one of the aforementioned candidates, has received funding from the Indiana House Democratic Caucus. The group has given her $106,500 in the past two weeks. The Indiana Democratic State Central Committee, which received $176,300, is the only other recipient of the caucus.

For a total of $108,800 in party funds, Dant Chesser received $1,250 from another Democratic member and $1,000 for in-kind services from the Ninth Congressional Democrat Central Committee.

In contrast, Horrocks received $1,000 from the same Ninth Congressional fund in October and $3,300 from two current Democratic lawmakers.

The IN House Democrats have given Stoner three contributions totaling $59,000. Additionally, the Boone County Democratic Party has contributed $3,000.

With $51,000, the Indiana Democrats were McNally’s largest party contributor, followed by a Democratic politician with $1,250.

This year, the Indiana Democratic State Central Committee has only disclosed one 2024 candidate contribution, which was $30,000 given to Jennifer McCormick, the Democratic candidate for governor.

However, a report from the outgoing treasurer covering the period from July 18 to October 11 shows that over $1.2 million was spent, including tens of thousands of dollars for mailer services. However, it does not identify which candidates benefited from the money.

Regarding its expenditures in legislative elections, the Indiana Democratic Party chose not to respond.

Sixty-seven percent of the $114,000 that the Indiana Senate Democrat Committee contributed this month went to the state central committee. Joel Levi is the only Senate contender to receive any funding, receiving close to $17,000 last week, while McCormick received $30,000 of that total. Both of these contributions were in-kind.

Levi is running against Noblesville Republican Sen. Scott Baldwin.

In any case, since October, the Republican counterpart has been spending more than either group. Along with Freeman, Baldwin, Sen. Cyndi Carrasco of Indianapolis, and Sen. Mike Bohacek of Michigan Shores also received funding from the Senate Majority Campaign Committee.

Baldwin received close to $60,000 from the Indiana Republican State Committee, while Carrasco received an additional $69,000. Additionally, Senate colleagues gave lesser donations to Bohacek and Carrasco.

In a statement released on October 28, Carrasco’s rival Suzanne Fortenberry questioned if the expenditures showed “fiscal responsibility” on Carrasco’s part, given the far lower amounts for the Fortenberry campaign.

“My Republican opponent Cyndi Carrasco and I decided to run a polite campaign based on the issues when we first met. Regretfully, Cyndi is hiding behind her Republican buddies downtown while they send out pricey mailings full of derogatory remarks about things I’ve said before,” Fortenberry stated.

Republicans have spent more than $60,000 on the mailers, which is the average income of an Indiana teacher, according to campaign finance disclosures. Ultimately, the Carrasco campaign has invested more than $270,000 on a seat that they already occupy. What do you think we could accomplish with $270,000? Fortenberry went on.

The campaign of Fortenberry emphasized that the year-to-date total is $270,000. According to the campaign finance portal, Fortenberry has only spent $10,000 on the election and has not disclosed any significant contributions.

The Indiana Capital Chronicle sent an email on Friday, but the Carrasco campaign did not reply. After being selected for the position at a party caucus in 2023 after the untimely death of the late Sen. Jack Sandlin, this is Carrasco’s maiden legislative campaign.

On election day, polls close at 6 p.m., but every voter in line at that time will still have a chance to cast their ballot. Since early voting started on October 8, more than a million Hoosiers have cast ballots.