Indiana
Biden’s Indiana ballot status — and your other questions — answered
Indiana voters, political donors and candidates will surely be impacted by President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 election. But the question is how?
Does Biden, who won the Indiana presidential primary election, have to appear on the ballot this November? If not Biden, then who? And what will be the impact for those who donated to the campaign or who are running for elected office in Indiana?
State Affairs has the answers to these questions and more. Here’s how Biden’s decision will impact the upcoming general election in Indiana.
Does Biden have to appear on the general election ballot?
No.
Angie Nussmeyer, the Democratic co-director of the Indiana Elections Division, told State Affairs the deadline to certify a presidential nominee to her division is noon Sept. 10.
“The Democratic Party’s ticket [president/vice president] will be certified to us by the Indiana Democratic Party’s state chair,” Nussmeyer said. “There is no state law that requires the person who won a major party’s primary election be the only candidate that can be certified to the state to appear on the November ballot as the party’s ticket.”
In fact, Indiana law specifies that even if Biden had dropped out after this deadline, votes cast for him would be considered votes cast for whomever the party named as his successor.
The Indiana Secretary of State’s Office confirmed these facts in a Monday news release, noting that counties also have until Sept. 16 to print ballots.
The Sep. 10 deadline falls after the Democratic National Convention, which will take place Aug. 19-22 in Chicago. Democrats are expected to name a new candidate slate at the convention.
Some Republicans, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, have said Democrats will face lawsuits at the state level due to the proposed change.
“Every state has their own election system, and the Democrat party will face legal challenges in trying to remove Biden from the top of the ticket,” Johnson said in a Sunday evening X post.
Marc Elias, an attorney who represents national Democrats in election matters, said in his own X post that the new nominee will appear on the ballot in every state.
“There is no basis for any legal challenge,” Elias said.
Who will be the new nominee?
Vice President Kamala Harris is the clear frontrunner. She benefits from already having been a part of the presidential ticket in 2024 and 2020, and Biden endorsed her on his way out of this year’s race.
She was also endorsed by a host of other high-profile Democrats, including Secretary of Transportation and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Others may opt to challenge Harris at the convention. Ultimately, Democratic National Convention delegates — including the 79 making the trip from Indiana — will select the next nominee.
What happens to Biden’s campaign money?
Harris, who was part of Biden’s campaign committee as his running mate, has already filed with the Federal Election Commission to assume control of the account.
Saurav Ghosh, the director of federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center, told U.S. News & World Report that campaign finance rules would not allow Biden’s account to be passed on to another candidate if Harris is not the nominee. Rather, the campaign would have to either refund donors or transfer the money to the Democratic National Committee, which could spend on behalf of a new candidate.
Donors may request a refund from any campaign committee through the FEC’s website.
Will this affect down-ballot races in Indiana?
There would not appear to be any direct impact on local and statewide candidates, but Biden dropping out may have other effects.
Speaking with State Affairs about Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick’s chances in 2024, Laura Merrifield Wilson, an associate professor in the Department of History and Political Science at the University of Indianapolis, said what’s happening at the presidential level can influence voter turnout and campaign fundraising for Indiana’s down-ballot races.
A new nominee may encourage or discourage voter turnout for state Democrats, who are seeking to flip a U.S. Senate seat and the governor’s mansion, among other races in largely Republican-controlled Indiana.
Contact Rory Appleton on X at @roryehappleton or email him at [email protected].
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man is dead after a shooting Thursday night on Indy’s near east side, police say.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, just after 8 p.m., officers were called to the 2000 block of East Washington Street on a report of a person shot.
When officers arrived, they found an adult male inside an apartment with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.
Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services transported the man to a hospital in critical condition, where died shortly after arriving.
Homicide detectives responded to the scene to begin the investigation.
Crime Resources
Gov. Mike Braun asked state regulators to reconsider their decision to greenlight a $71 million rate increase for AES Indiana, doubling down on his condemnation of a move that could leave Indianapolis residents with higher electrical bills for years.
Braun wrote in a June 18 news release that he had asked Indiana Utility Counselor Abby Gray, who heads the office representing ratepayers in proceedings before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, to petition for a rehearing of the AES rate case.
Gray indicated in the release that her office would submit the petition shortly. No petition had been posted on the IURC’s online docket as of this story’s publication.
The rate increase, which was approved by the IURC on June 17, was substantially less than the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It was also less than the amount proposed in a settlement last October between AES and major electricity consumers.
But the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, which Gray leads, came out strongly against any increase to AES’s base rates. In September, the OUCC called for a $21 million reduction instead.
As the Republican Party grapples with rising discontent over affordability, Braun has used opposition to rising utility rates to telegraph that he’s committed to keeping costs down for Indiana residents. He signed a law in February that allows the state to make rate-setting decisions that reward or penalize utilities based on metrics including affordability.
In March, he told reporters that he would take on Indiana’s five investor-owned utilities, describing himself as the “new sheriff in town.”
And after the IURC voted 3-1 to approve the AES rate increase, he wrote in a post to X that he was “deeply disappointed.”
Braun wrote in the June 18 news release that he had appointed Gray, a longtime OUCC lawyer and judge, to her current post because he knew she “would help me fight for Hoosiers.”
According to AES’s estimates, the rate increase will cost households an additional $5 per month for every 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity they use, beginning in July. A second hike will take effect in January.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
The Protect College Sports Act, legislation meant to introduce and codify sweeping reforms related to college athletics, passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday morning.
It now heads to the Senate floor.
The bill passed out of committee by a 19-9 vote. Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young voted no, his decision reflecting Big Ten concerns over the bill.
A spokesman for Sen. Young told IndyStar, “Senator Young hopes that additional changes can be made to the bill to address concerns raised by the Big Ten.”
Co-sponsored by Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), the Protect College Sports Act represents Congress’ most substantial success so far in a yearslong effort to bring legislative reform to college athletics. Since before the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders in college sports — including the NCAA, member conferences and schools, and other major players — have lobbied for national solutions to what have become state and regional problems.
Several pieces of legislation have been introduced across the last several years, only to fizzle long before reaching the floor of either chamber. The SCORE Act, introduced last year in the House of Representatives, gained some traction and passed out of committee, but was never brought to the floor.
Which makes Thursday’s news meaningful. Moving the Protect College Sports Act to the Senate floor, while not a guarantee of any outcome, potentially takes the bill past a threshold no other such piece of reformative legislation has yet been able to cross.
Cruz told Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger on Thursday that Cruz believes Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is committed to introducing the bill to the Senate floor soon.
The bill provides a legal framework for a host of potential reforms and protections for college sports. It grants limited antitrust protection to the NCAA, places limits on certain things including potential conference realignment, builds safeguards meant to protect non-revenue and Olympic sports, addresses potential broadcast rights reforms, and more.
It enjoys significant backing, and not just among leaders in college sports. This week, the NFL, its players’ association, the National Basketball Players Association and Major League Baseball all voiced their support for the bill.
Two key constituencies not in lockstep on the bill voiced their own concerns Thursday.
In a joint statement issued just after 10 a.m. Thursday, the Big Ten and SEC — far and away the two most powerful conferences and arguably two greatest power centers, full stop, in college athletics — suggested they still hold significant reservations over the bill.
“From the outset, we identified a set of essential revisions to the PCSA necessary for the long-term sustainability of college athletics,” the statement read. “We have worked with both majority and minority staff to advance those revisions, which focus on better supporting student-athletes and stabilizing the college sports environment. We continue to believe revisions are needed to secure our support for the bill.
“Despite our sustained engagement and good faith efforts, these critical revisions have not been accepted.”
The statement went on to note the “several Commerce Committee members that share our concerns and support these recommendations.”
Young is one of several members of the committee representing a Big Ten state, including one of three Republicans. He is the only Republican member of the committee whose state contains multiple schools in the conference.
Allowing for those reservations, Thursday’s news is still significant. It marks the first time a bipartisan bill on the subject has reached this point in the Senate and, should it be brought to the floor, it would be the first such legislation to reach that stage, in either chamber.
The bill could be brought to the Senate floor as early as July, though that timeline remains fluid.
-
Pennsylvania2 minutes agoPA Beef Trail launched at 2 Berks County restaurants
-
Rhode Island5 minutes agoSend-off ceremony held for Special Olympics Rhode Island athletes heading to USA Games
-
South-Carolina10 minutes agoSickle Cell Day gathers advocates at South Carolina State House
-
South Dakota17 minutes agoCommunities across South Dakota celebrate America 250 with fireworks, parades, and exhibits
-
Tennessee20 minutes agoShooting Hunger event aims to prevent childhood hunger in West Tennessee
-
Texas25 minutes agoNew screwworm portal aims to protect Texas livestock, wildlife and rural economy
-
Utah32 minutes agoUtah Athletics making Huntsman Center seating changes – KSL Sports
-
Vermont35 minutes agoNew owners of Vermont Packinghouse plan for local growth – The Vermont Journal & The Shopper
