Indiana

Early voting numbers suggest strong turnout, but which candidate benefits?

Published

2 months ago

October 30, 2024

Early voting numbers suggest strong turnout, but which candidate benefits?

Chris and Shelby Ashby waited about an hour and a half Tuesday morning to vote at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, where the line coiled around temporary fences before stretching into the parking lot.

The Indianapolis couple’s toddler was in preschool, and they were hoping to avoid the long lines on Election Day.

Chris Ashby said he was motivated to vote for Democrat Jennifer McCormick in the governor’s race and Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election.

“We rank too low in education,” Ashby said. “[McCormick] is an educator, and it was the most important issue for me.”

Shelby Ashby said it was “very important we have the right people in charge,” a reference toHarris.

At the same location, Claire Baker, also of Indianapolis, waited three hours to vote. This was her first time voting early.

“It’s always a privilege to exercise my right to vote,” Baker said. She was most excited to cast a ballot for former President Donald Trump in the presidential election.

The wait was at least an hour in neighboring Hamilton County, where Fishers resident Blake Broeker said as left the county fairgrounds that he was also motivated to vote for Trump.

Early voting is well underway in Indiana, where nearly 955,000 people had submitted ballots as of Tuesday. That number marks a strong turnout that trailed only the record-setting early turnout of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic pushed more Hoosiers to vote early — either in person or by mail.

Election experts were encouraged by the turnout thus far but stopped short of forecasting an advantage for either party or candidate based on the numbers.

“If you’d have told me that a quarter of the turnout in 2020 would have already voted in Indiana with a week to go, I would have been surprised,” said Michael Wolf, political science chair and professor at Purdue University Fort Wayne. “It is quite a surprise. If you want people to participate, then early voting is clearly working.”

What the early voting numbers show

So far, 2024’s turnout lags behind 2020 figures but is well ahead of 2016 numbers.

In 2020, more than 1,358,000 Hoosiers had voted by the week before Election Day. The total in 2016 was about 571,000.

According to Democratic data firm TargetSmart, about 54% of the ballots returned thus far belonged to women — a similar proportion to voter splits in 2020.

The split by age demographics is starker.

In 2020, about 31% of ballots returned at this point belonged to voters under 50 years old, while about 42% came from people over 65.

This year, about 25% of ballots collected thus far came from voters under 50. About 49% of votes belonged to Hoosiers over 65.

What the numbers don’t show

“We know how many people voted early, but we have no idea who they voted for,” Indiana University Professor Emeritus Marjorie Hershey said.

Trump vilified the early voting practice in 2020, Hershey said, and Democrats tended to take the pandemic more seriously. That meant early voting numbers skewed Democratic.

But more Republicans have embraced the practice in 2024, making it impossible to speculate about which candidates benefit from strong early turnout, according to Hershey.

It’s also too early to make such assumptions.

“Typically, what happens is a wave for one candidate or the other in the last few days,” Hershey said. “But it’s impossible to know who that will be.”

Competitive governor’s race could be driving turnout

Wolf, the Purdue professor, said the gubernatorial race between Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Braun and McCormick, the state’s former superintendent of public instruction, may be a factor in the high turnout.

“People are paying attention to the governor’s race,” he said. “It’s hard to punch through the national-level stuff, but the candidates have had good, crisp debates.”

McCormick is airing commercials paid for with out-of-state money, Wolf said, and Republican groups have moved to match — meaning they must see the race tightening.

“To have two candidates who have held statewide office matters,” Wolf said. “Both candidates have run solid campaigns, and McCormick has produced a narrative that will have some people more engaged.”

Voting lines outside of Indianapolis

One statewide advocacy group is noting long early voting lines in places where they have not been seen before.

“It’s not unusual to see long lines and waits in Marion County, but we’re hearing about lines in other parts of the state,” said Julia Vaughn, executive director of the voter rights advocacy group Common Cause Indiana. “Two hours in Carmel. An hour and a half in Allen County.”

Vaughn was cautiously optimistic about the turnout thus far.

“It would be great if, [with] this election, Indiana could get out of the cellar in terms of voter turnout,” she said.

Several key issues, such as health care and education, were motivating voters more than specific candidates in this cycle, Vaughn said.

She is rooting for the heavy turnout to continue through Tuesday.

“I hope vote centers aren’t ghost towns on Election Day,” she said.

Contact Rory Appleton on X at @roryehappleton or email him at [email protected].

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Indiana

Northwest Indiana officials divided on Biden's decision to block Nippon takeover of US Steel

Published

7 hours ago

January 3, 2025

Press Room

Northwest Indiana officials divided on Biden's decision to block Nippon takeover of US Steel

GARY, Ind. (WLS) — Leaders in Northwest Indiana reacted Friday after President Joe Biden decided to block Japan’s Nippon Steel from acquiring U.S. Steel.

The U.S. Steel smokestacks along the lakefront are a prominent landmark for the city of Gary. The company, with its more than century-long history in Gary, is the city’s largest employer with nearly 5,000 jobs.

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Gary Mayor Eddie Melton has been a big supporter of the proposed $15 billion merger between U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel.

“Gary has seen a significant downturn over the last 50 years,” Melton said. “As we are constantly rebuilding from within, we couldn’t risk losing one of our largest employers.”

The Gary mayor said during a visit last month, Nippon executives promised a $1 billion investment in the Gary plant, replacing the four blast furnaces over the next ten years. However, union leaders support President Biden’s decision to block the deal, citing concerns about the long term stability of the steel industry.

“The president took action to block the deal so U.S. Steel remains a proud American company, American-owned, American-operated by American Union steel workers and the best in the world,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Yesterday we had a potential deal in hand. Today we have nothing. So it’s uncertain what the future’s gonna be.

Northwest Indiana congressman Frank Mrvan also agrees, saying in a statement, “It is absolutely right to prevent a foreign company with proven trade abuses from controlling our domestic steel production.”

The companies, however, are vowing to fight the President’s decision, saying, “Blocking this transaction means denying billions of committed investment to extend the life of U.S. Steel’s aging facilities and putting thousands of good-paying, family-sustaining union jobs at risk. In short, we believe that President Biden has sacrificed the future of American steelworkers for his own political agenda.”

Gary’s mayor agrees.

“Yesterday we had a potential deal in hand. Today we have nothing,” Melton said. “So it’s uncertain what the future’s gonna be.”

A White House spokesperson said the president’s decision has nothing to do with Japan, a close ally of the United States.

In the meantime, a spokesperson for U.S. Steel says they do intend to pursue their legal options, but it’s unclear exactly what that means.

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Indiana

Obituary for Michael Kacprowicz at Divine Mercy Funeral Home

Published

17 hours ago

January 3, 2025

Press Room

Obituary for Michael Kacprowicz at Divine Mercy Funeral Home

With profound sadness, we share that Mike Kacprowicz, 62, passed away Wednesday, January 1, 2025, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was born in Buffalo, New York to Adam and Pearl Stine Kacprowicz. Mikes greatest passion was working with cars. After starting over 40 years ago in the automotive industry, he

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Indiana

What Mike Woodson Said After Indiana’s 84-74 Win Over Rutgers

Published

1 day ago

January 3, 2025

Press Room

What Mike Woodson Said After Indiana’s 84-74 Win Over Rutgers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana resumed Big Ten play with a step in the right direction, defeating Rutgers 84-74 Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Coach Mike Woodson found contributions all over his roster, led by Myles Rice with 21 points. Oumar Ballo returned to action and scored 17 points, followed by Mackenzie Mgbako with 16, Trey Galloway with 11 and Luke Goode with nine. The Hoosiers improved to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play ahead of Sunday’s game against Penn State at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Penn.

Here’s the full transcript of Woodson’s postgame press conference.

On Oumar Ballo’s play…

Woodson: “I thought he played great. He’s a big part of our team winning tonight. He had 17 and three rebounds, a few blocked shots, plugged the hole up for us like he’s supposed to so I thought he played well.”

On his thoughts on Rutgers guard Ace Bailey, who scored 39 points…

Woodson: “He’s special. He’s a good player and he’s young. If he continues to work, he could be pretty special. I mean, we kind of threw a few things at him, but he made some tough shots tonight and that’s what great players do.”

On if Ballo coming off the bench was for disciplinary or injury-related reasons…

Woodson: “Let’s just talk about his 17 and 12. That’s what I like to focus in on. He came off the bench and he got 17 and 12 for us and two blocks, which is fantastic.”

On Malik Reneau leaving with an injury and how his team adapted…

Woodson: “Well, right now, we just got to evaluate him tomorrow. He couldn’t come back in the game and you know he’s a big piece to the puzzle. Going into this game, he was our leading scorer, so we’ll evaluate him tomorrow through our medical staff and see where he is and if he can’t play, it’s next man up. We just got to continue to go whoever is in uniform.”

On Indiana’s improved 3-point shooting…

Woodson: “Guys stepped up, they made ’em, which was kind of nice to see. That’s probably the most threes we’ve made this season so far and I just hope it continues to be a carryover because I thought in the Winthrop game we got some good looks, we just didn’t make them. Tonight, guys stepped up and they knocked them down which we’re going to need moving forward.”

On Indiana’s 34 second-chance points and 18 offensive rebounds…

Woodson: “Well, I think the fact that they played a lot of zones. It’s kind of hard to block out in zone situations. We were able to sneak guys in and get put-backs or kick it back out for threes. That’s just how it goes when you play zone. You gamble because you do have to rebound out of the zone in order to get down the floor and play offense and we were able to capitalize on it a little bit.”

On if Indiana did anything different in practice after making just one three in its last game…

Woodson: “No, like I told you guys, I mean, as a coach, every time they shoot it, I think it’s going in, especially if you got the right guy shooting it and we did in our last game. You had Gallo shooting some and Goode and Mac. They just didn’t knock them down and tonight they had some of those same looks and they put it in the hole which is kind of nice to see.”

On Anthony Leal’s defense against Ace Bailey and if he expected that matchup…

Woodson: “No, Anthony is one of our best defenders and when I got to go to someone off the bench to guard a key guy, because I thought in that one stretch right before the half, I think he only scored one point against Anthony. He had done all his damage early and… but again, he’s a hell of a player. He did a lot of good things for his ball club tonight.”

On if this game was Indiana’s best in terms of its depth top to bottom…

Woodson: “I think so but we got a long way to go. I got to help our bench more somehow. I just got to get them comfortable having fun and flying around and doing things on both ends of the floor that we’re supposed to do and we’re not there yet.”

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