I’ve frequently posted about the multiple negative effects of Indiana’s extreme gerrymandering. One of the most pernicious of those effects has been voter suppression–the tendency of Democrats and Independents who live in “safe” Republican districts to stay home on election day. If you think the result is foreordained, why bother?
In Indiana, the Democrats’ decision not to bother running candidates in many of those “safe” districts has only increased that disengagement. When there is no competition, we shouldn’t be surprised when there is minimal turnout. And Indiana has long had depressingly low voter turnout–last time I looked, we were near the bottom of all states.
This situation has produced a depressingly widespread opinion that progressive candidates (even moderately progressive, as in not committed crazies or Christian Nationalists) have no chance in Indiana. Donors who support Democrats send their dollars elsewhere; discouraged Democrats don’t bother casting ballots. (Worse still, in many rural districts, many faithful longtime Republican voters who are unhappy with incumbent officials nevertheless cannot bring themselves to vote for a Democrat.)
A new organization has decided that the basic problem in the Hoosier State is that lack of competition.
The folks who have organized Independent Indiana looked at the data, and discovered that during the last couple of election cycles, over 200 candidates had run for offices in Indiana as Independents. Of that number, 52% won their races, an astonishing percentage. (In contrast, Democrats won 36% of theirs…)
The goal of Independent Indiana is to encourage and support Independent candidates–and to give voters in those gerrymandered districts a choice.
The organization recently held an informational meeting, and I attended. After introductory remarks from Nathan Gotsch, the Executive Director, and the introduction of board members and a recent operations hire, Nathan introduced a panel consisting of three mayors who had won their elections as Independents. Their comments were enlightening.
Tom Saunders had formerly been a Republican state representative; he is now an independent on the Lewisville Town Council. As he explained,
“I felt like my party was leaving me, and I wasn’t happy…Toward the end, my conscience wasn’t agreeing with me. I wasn’t sleeping at night, and it was time to come home.” (Many former Republicans can underscore his discomfort…) As he said, “I think I could have run as an independent and gotten elected to the legislature, but my advisors and the people who gave me money said no.”
Saunders ran for his city council and won. He also had some harsh words for Republicans who are proposing a mid-cycle gerrymander.
“The worst thing that’s happened to the state is the supermajority where we don’t hear the other side’s concerns.”
“If redistricting happens, I think it does open it up [for independents]. If I was 20 years younger, I would [run for a larger office as an independent. My wife might divorce me, but I would.”
“Republicans need to go back 30 years and look what happened the last time they tried this. Democrats walked out, the plan backfired, and Republicans lost seats. I think it’s a mistake.”
Richard Strick, another panelist, is an Independent who has been mayor of the Republican stronghold of Huntington since 2020. As he told the gathering, “We don’t just need independent candidates. We need independent thinking in both parties — left and right officials who know when to put party aside to do what’s needed. At the end of the day, especially at the local level, it’s about delivering and getting results. People will give you a chance if they think you’re sincere and have their best interest at heart.” He enumerated the benefits of independence, noting “you don’t have to be married to an ideology. I’m 100% responsible for what I say and do.”
The third panelist was Shawna Girgis, who served as the Independent mayor of Bedford from 2008 to 2019. She pointed out that the first time she’d run, Republicans quietly told her they were glad she was in the race. “By my second and third campaigns, people were open about supporting me because they saw the results.” She also noted that running against extremists and ideologues can be a bonus: “Sometimes having people work against you is the best thing that can happen. They’re the wrong people with the wrong message, doing the wrong things consistently. That only helps you.”
You can see a video of the entire event here.
As the new Operations director noted, Independent candidates do best in states where there’s no competition–where there’s one party rule. Even people in the dominant party feel unrepresented.
That sure describes Indiana, where polls reflect that even most Republican voters are unhappy with the Christian Nationalists and culture warriors who currently dominate our government.
Interesting comments from Independents in our gerrymandered state. In our neck of the woods (East Central Indiana), the lifelong Democrats are switching to Republicans because of their former party’s “shift to the left.” That’s the term they use to describe embracing minorities and LGBTQ+ individuals. I’ve heard them complain about the “pronoun culture” and “abortion.”
And, with the current Democratic leadership and their refusal to abandon the oligarchic donors and work for the people, I see more people abandoning them. They have become “culture warriors” for our minority segment, which is not enough voters to win elections. It falls back to the red or blue pill psychosis, which is propagandized in the media.
The recent Argentina bailout by Scott Bessent and Trump had nothing to do with propping up their country; it was bailing out a billionaire hedge fund manager who heavily invested in Javier Milieu’s Libertarian experiment. It’s failing drastically!
Even worse, we are bailing out our farmers’ competition in row crops. Therefore, Trump is going to bail out farmers because the tariffs on China have financially crushed them. Many are going bankrupt. So, Trump’s tariffs are hurting consumers and farmers. Nobody is going to bail out consumers!!
Farmers donate significant amounts of money to Republicans. Farmers send lobbyists to state capitals and Washington. Therefore, they garner the attention of politicians.
It’s the economy, stupid!
In late stages of capitalism, where consolidations have resulted in monopolies, there is no longer a “free market.” As an oligarchy, the prices are rigged, and consumers get squeezed. This results in Fascism. The solution to fascism is Socialism, or democratic socialism.
Suppressing voter turnout is on page #1 of the Republican playbook. Gerrymandering, voter ID “laws” and all the rest are the operating ethos of Republicans. Democrats, as Todd points out, have lost their way, lack leadership of any sort and have no message to those disaffected voters. Indiana isn’t the only place this is occurring.
As Kamala Harris recently said on a TV show (I think it was Colbert), “The system is broken.” And that made Republican hearts sing. That was the point all along: Break it. Blame the Democrats. Sell the assets to the billionaires. Fascism all day, every day … just like it was in the 1930s attempts by the “Bund”. WW II and rational, engaged voters saved us from this horror show we are now experiencing.
Then there was the ridiculous, totally psychotic speech by a rapidly deteriorating psychopath to all of our flag officers … Sinclair Lewis, if he were alive, would say about today’s events: “Hey. I was only kidding when I wrote “It Can’t Happen Here.”
Indiana’s Non-Party was never more evident than when Democrats ran John Gregg as their ghost gubernatorial candidate in two successive elections. A few years ago I E-mailed Sheila after receiving an E-mail from an unknown Democratic candidate seeking donations in the upcoming Primary Election which I was totally unaware of. Sheila’s response for why little or no publicity regarding the Primary was “There isn’t much going on.” Unforgettable! I posted comments on the blog and another commenter in the southern part of Indiana thanked me for the information; after reading my comments he researched the Primary and found information in a Louisville, Kentucky newspaper. Living in Florida for 7 years; leaving local Steve Goldsmith and this Republican state behind me, I paid more attention to politics in Florida to know who was who and what they stood for. I found the same lack of Democratic campaign information and inundation from Republicans and sat through the presidential recount in the Gore/Bush election with George W’s little brother Jeb as Florida governor.
“One of the most pernicious of those effects has been voter suppression–the tendency of Democrats and Independents who live in “safe” Republican districts to stay home on election day. If you think the result is foreordained, why bother?” I live in one of those Republican districts and still have my “For the love of God, anyone but Trump” yard sign posted in my front flowerbed.
This “Non-Party” is not a new “thang” in Indiana! Moving back to Indianapolis from Port Richey, FL in August 2001 (just in time for 9/11) I found nothing changed in politics. In the years since 2001 so little information regarding local Democratic candidates and any foundation they represented that my money went to DNC, DCCC, DSCC and Democratic candidates mostly in other states hoping to save the country, knowing the foregone conclusion of local elections. I did donate to local and state candidates I found information on after learning their names primarily from Sheila.
The pitiful Democratic presidential dumping of President Joe Biden with only partial support for their replacement of Vice President Kamala Harris, then blaming her for her loss, has put us into the hands of Trump. His speech to the United Nations General Assembly should have resulted in impeachment but left him to gather our entire military leadership from around the world (costing MILLIONS of tax dollars) to sit silent through his inane and insane speech to them to train troops in American crime-ridden cities followed by Hegseth’s dog whistle approval to use terrorism and atrocities in battle
We are now our own worst enemies! The government shutdown leaves us no recourse on any issue we have faced since Trump created DOGE and put a South African immigrant car salesmen in charge of firing all government employees in his (Trump’s) cross-hairs. We woke up this morning to the reality of being Royally Fucked!
Todd, I am a lifelong Democrat and so I hang out with lifelong Democrats. Being infuriated with our leadership is not the same as becoming a Republican. None of us are switching to the Republican Party. Your source is incorrect.
Melinda,
My source is actual elected Democrats in Muncie/Delaware County who have switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party after being elected. Two City Council members flipped parties, and now the R’s control the City. They should be forced to resign!!
anyone but the staus quo in any elected majority. being in blood red NoDak theres little to offer and little to gain. but the last 5 years NoDak is geeting a surge of outsiders movin in. but id say after talking with many of them, blue collar types, they are just trumps tired ass parroting memes. might as well have them chatbox repeat the same derived ai answers they are told to say again and again and again..
A fantastic idea for all states, all offices. Voters should want to elect people, not parties who will serve “for the country (or state or county or town) and for the people”.
The success of Independent candidates is interesting. I suggest the true lesson is not so much that Democrats are unpopular but rather that independent candidates work harder, focus more on local, not national, issues, start at the grassroots level and work their way up. At a recent meeting of progressives, talk centered on rallies, protests, civil disobedience and contact with Congress. As the research shows, independent candidates thrive against one-party opposition. Democrats should offer potential winners training, volunteers and promote financial support under a large tent.
We are a mess, and they are insane. That talk to the military, Total insanity.
What I see in my little neighborhood is mostly disengaged residents who have no idea who their city council member, state rep and state senator are. The few who are engaged at all get their information from evangelical clergy or worse, from Fox. Even when local politicians do show up for meetings, very few attend. The ones that do usually have a grievance and leave when they have had their say.
I have attended town halls, meet and greets and fund raisers. I hear the same complaints with lots on new ones added recently. What to do is the most frequently asked question. I don’t want to wait for a leader to tell me how to act. I make signs, make calls, write emails, read and listen, donate what I can afford to those fighting for the things I have pledge my allegiance to since grade school.
Everyone is living in their own little cocoon, nose in their phone, ears filled with buds, feeding their entertainment addictions, with little interest in how those around them are affected by the coming fascism. Until it hits them in the pocketbook or inconveniences them directly, it is not their problem. When the s*it hits the fan right at home, they look for others to blame for the consequences of their willful ignorance.
The disgraceful, deranged performance at Quantico yesterday under any other administration would have been grounds for immediate dismissal of all responsible parties. It was painful to read the transcript. (I can’t listen to him as it makes me ill.)
The fact that so many hold the Democrats responsible for the shutdown tells me that the brainwashing has succeeded. In Indiana, the electorate has chosen the bigotry and hatred still deep in the collective body politic, the KKK with hoods and robes off, showing the truth about who we are.
I don’t trust those who now describe themselves as Independent because they must be beholden to those who back them financially. Who are those donors and what do they have to gain? Cynical? Yes.
RESIST.
Caren; Hegseth’s dog whistle message to the hundreds of our military leaders was clear, especially after Trump’s opening monologue. Reopen Guantanamo Bay as a torture site.
Trump, Term 1, Day 2; speech to our nation’s police and public safety officers not to be gentle with arrestees, don’t protect their heads when forcing them into patrol cars. Trump, Term 2, 10 months in; called in all military leaders from posts around the world (at a cost of MILLIONS of tax dollars) to broaden his orders to treat American citizens as enemies in his war on democracy.
Jack Smith. “…the last 5 years NoDak is greeting a surge of outsiders movin in.”
I wonder if those moving in are attracted your state’s unique Bank of North Dakota, founded in the early 20th century to receive state revenue deposits and fund development, agriculture and small businesses. The BND turns a profit every year, and returns those profits to the state. Other states who have tried to emulate the BND have been turned back by their states’ powerful banking interests.
I know Tom Saunders–great guy. He actually used a few of my insights for a floor argument. He knew he was being punished by his own party because he would sometimes vote on Bills that were viewed as ‘Democratic’ bills, and he would respond that he is voting because it is what his constituents wanted. His party took him off of committees because he would not be a ‘sheep’.
I think Michigan will elect an independent as Governor next year.