Indiana
Indiana isn’t a battleground state. But national Dems want to help break GOP supermajority
Justice Sotomayor says she’s cried following conservative rulings
A Trump win could secure a heavily conservative Supreme Court for the next few decades.
The state Democratic Party will be getting some help from Washington D.C. in its effort to break the Republican supermajority at the Indiana Statehouse.
The Democratic National Committee told IndyStar it is investing nearly $70,000 to help the state party’s goal of flipping at least four open House seats this year, with a particular focus on Central Indiana.
“The DNC is committed to re-electing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and, as President Biden has made clear since his inauguration, Democrats must also win up and down the ballot and strengthen organizing across all fifty states,” said DNC Chair Jaime Harrison. “Today’s announced investment in the Indiana State Democratic Party shows that priority in action.”
More: As Central Indiana’s suburbs grow, Democrats see an opportunity in November elections
With their 30 members in a 100-member House, Democrats don’t have the power to stop legislation, even if some Republicans break with their party ranks. House Democrats are hoping at least four more seats could change that dynamic in the House.
Breaking the Republican supermajority in the Senate, where Democrats only hold 10 of 50 seats, would be more challenging.
State party officials and Democratic candidates have been traveling the state this spring and summer in what they call a “Break the Supermajority Tour,” which has included town halls with potential voters in Fort Wayne, West Lafayette and Carmel.
The money from the DNC will go toward voter database technology and supporting organizing staff in Central Indiana, where some open seats are.
These include seats being vacated by retiring Reps. Jerry Torr and Donna Schaibley, Republicans from Carmel; and state Reps. Chuck Goodrich, R-Noblesville, and Mike Speedy, R-Indianapolis, who both left to run for Congress. A total of eight Statehouse incumbents are not seeking reelection this year.
The DNC says it has been ramping up its annual investment in state parties by 25% each year, with a round of investments this year being the largest in DNC history. Since the midterm elections in 2022, the DNC has invested more than $500,000 in Indiana.
“There’s no secret that the presidential campaigns don’t compete here really. They don’t need our electoral votes,” Schmuhl said. “I have heard from candidates and party faithfuls over the years that wish the national party would do more. This is a sign that the national party is doing more.”
The state party believes this is a near-term, attainable strategy toward its longterm goal of bringing more political balance to the statehouse. Democrats haven’t elected a statewide candidate since Sen. Joe Donnelly in 2012.
“It is my firm belief that our state legislators are the backbone of our political parties,” said caucus director Megan Ruddie. “When we talk about change in our politics, it starts with these state legislative seats.”
Breaking the supermajority won’t be easy. In addition to flipping four House seats, Democrats would need to fend off challenges to incumbents in potentially competitive districts. That includes Democratic Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, whose district covers parts of Carmel, Fishers and northern Marion County; and Democratic Rep. Wendy Dant Chesser, who was recently chosen by a caucus of Democrats to represent the Jeffersonville area.
Ruddie draws encouragement from the national political climate, in which the Republican party is splintering over the reign of Donald Trump’s politics. While some political observers say one shouldn’t read into former presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s showing in Indiana during the primary, others think it’s a bellwether of dissatisfaction with Trump that could affect down-ballot races. (Haley won 22% of the vote statewide, and 34% in Hamilton County, despite having withdrawn from the race.)
“I do not think the ballot Republicans built on primary day is appealing to the majority of Hoosiers,” Ruddie said. “I think Niki Haley voters screamed that loud and clear.”
The election is Nov. 5.
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on X:@kayla_dwyer17
Indiana
Indiana redistricting is up for a final, deciding vote in the state Senate – The Boston Globe
Indiana state senators are expected to take a final, high-stakes vote on redistricting Thursday after months of pressure from President Donald Trump, and the outcome is still uncertain.
Even in the face of one-on-one pressure from the White House and violent threats against state lawmakers, many Indiana Republicans have been reluctant to back a new congressional map that would favor their party’s candidates in the 2026 elections.
Trump is asking Republican-led states to redistrict in the middle of the decade, an uncommon practice, in order to make more winnable seats for the GOP ahead of next year’s elections. Midterms tend to favor the party opposite the one in power, and Democrats are increasingly liking their odds at flipping control of the U.S. House after the results of recent high-profile elections.
In Indiana, Trump supports passage of a new map drawn up by the National Republican Redistricting Trust designed to deliver all nine of the state’s congressional districts to the GOP. Republicans currently hold seven of the nine seats.
On Wednesday night, he sharply criticized party members who didn’t want to go along with the plan, and he repeated his threat to back primary challenges for anyone who voted against it.
“If Republicans will not do what is necessary to save our Country, they will eventually lose everything to the Democrats,” Trump wrote on social media.
The new map would split the city of Indianapolis into four districts, each included with large portions of rural Indiana — three of which would stretch from the central city to the borders of nearby states. Indianapolis now makes up one congressional district long held by Democratic U.S. Rep. André Carson.
The proposed map is also designed to eliminate the district of U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, who represents an urban district near Chicago.
A dozen lawmakers of the 50-member state Senate have not publicly declared a stance on the new maps.
If at least four of that group side with the chamber’s 10 Democrats and 12 other Republicans who are expected to vote no, the vote would fail in a remarkable rebuke to Trump’s demand.
Supporters of the proposed map need at least 25 yes votes; a tie would be broken with Republican Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s vote, who is in favor of redistricting.
In a Senate committee Monday, the redistricting legislation took its first step toward passage in a 6-3 vote, with one Republican joining the committee’s two Democrats in voting against it. However, a few of the Republican senators indicated they may vote against the bill in a final vote.
The Republican supermajority in the state House passed the proposed map last week. Twelve Republicans voted with the chamber’s 30 Democrats against the bill.
Nationally, mid-cycle redistricting so far has resulted in nine more congressional seats that Republicans believe they can win and six more congressional seats that Democrats think they can win. However, redistricting is being litigated in several states.
Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina quickly enacted new GOP-favorable maps. California voters recently approved a new map in response to Texas’ that would favor Democratic candidates, and a judge in Utah imposed new districts that could allow Democrats to win a seat, after ruling that Republican lawmakers circumvented voter-approved anti-gerrymandering standards.
Multiple Republican groups are threatening to support primary opponents of Indiana state senators who vote against redistricting. Turning Point Action pledged “congressional level spending” in state Legislature races if the redistricting measure does not pass. Trump has also vowed to endorse primary challengers of members who vote against the new map.
Indiana
DoorDash driver accused of pepper-spraying customer’s Arby’s order, resulting in wife falling ill
Caught red (pepper) handed.
A DoorDash driver has been banned from the app after being accused of dousing an order with pepper spray and causing an unsuspecting customer to fall ill after eating the tainted food.
The sick act was caught on a doorbell camera outside an Evansville, Indiana, home just after midnight on Sunday.
The driver, who hasn’t been charged with any crime, was dropping off an Arby’s delivery to Mark Cardin and his wife, Mandy, when she snapped a confirmation photo before suddenly producing an object from her pocket and spraying the order.
The blue-haired worker placed the spray back into her jacket pocket before walking away, all in front of the camera.
The couple brought the order inside, unaware that something was wrong with it and began chowing down.
Moments later, Mandy began struggling to breathe.
“I noticed my wife had starting eating and she started choking and gasping, and after she had a couple bites of her food she actually threw up,” he told WFIE.
The horrified customer began investigating the cause of his wife’s sudden illness when he examined the order.
“I had a look at the bag and seen that there was some kind of spray or something,” Cardin said. “The bag had been tampered with. So I pulled up my doorbell camera and seen that the lady who dropped the food off had actually tampered with it on purpose for some reason.”
Cardin shared the photos and videos of the driver to Facebook asking for help in identifying the driver.
He attempted to contact her but found she already blocked him on the app.
Cardin reported the food runner’s stunt to DoorDash and the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office is looking to get the driver fired and charged.
“I definitely want to see her prosecuted,” Cardin told WFIE, adding that they had never met her before and had left a tip before the incident.
The driver has been banned from the app after footage surfaced of the late-night delivery.
“We have zero tolerance for this type of appalling behavior. The Dasher in question has been permanently removed from the platform, and our team is standing by to support law enforcement with any investigation,” a DoorDash spokesperson told The Post.
Cardin doesn’t know exactly what was sprayed on the food, fearing it could’ve been worse than it was.
“It’s horrific,” Cardin said. “We assume it’s pepper spray, that’s more than likely what it is, but now in this day and age it could’ve been anything. It could’ve been rat poison, it could’ve been fentanyl. I mean, my wife could’ve been dead.”
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office has opened an investigation into the driver and could charge her with consumer product tampering, a level 6 felony, according to WFIE.
If the foreign spray resulted in harm the charge could be increased to a level 5 felony.
“We live in a terrible world right now,” Mark said. “Horrific. People are mean for no reason. There was no reason to do what she done,” Cardin said, encouraging other food delivery app users to be cautious with their future orders.
“I would say to anybody, if you order food on any kind of delivery service, make sure you have a doorbell,” Mark said.
“This is making me second guess ever ordering food from anywhere ever again,” he said.
Indiana
Several northeast Indiana cities, counties awarded grants for infrastructure projects
NORTHEAST INDIANA (WPTA) – The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has announced the list of cities and counties selected to receive funds through its Community Crossings Matching Grant Program.
The Community Crossings program, created in 2016, gives funding to towns, cities, and counties in the Hoosier State that are used for infrastructure improvement projects.
Projects eligible for funding through the program include road and bridge preservation projects that comply with Americans with Disabilities Act standards, along with chip sealing and crack-filling operations.
On Tuesday, the following recipients were announced:
Allen County, Bluffton, DeKalb County, and LaGrange County were among those that received the largest grants, at $1 million.
You can view the full list of recipients here.
INDOT says the next call for project submissions will open in July. For more information about the program, visit INDOT’s website.
Copyright 2025 WPTA. All rights reserved.
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