About $300,000 raised to elect Alexander to Indiana State Senate on Tuesday
MUNCIE, Ind. − The late Gen. Colin Powell developed and applied a military doctrine referred to as "Shock and Awe," which involves defeating an adversary by the application of overwhelming force. The peaceful version of that might be at play in the race for the newly reformed Indiana State Senate District 26.
This is the first election in the redrawn district that includes Delaware and Randolph counties. Most of the time voters in both counties elect Republicans in countywide races. Scott Alexander, president of the Delaware County Council, is on the ballot is representing the GOP's bid to claim the state senate seat. He is getting a lot of help from other members of his partly, including sitting members of the General Assembly, the Indiana Republican State Committee, the Senate Majority Campaign Committee as well as numerous local contributors.
As of the filing of campaign receipts and expenses on Oct. 17, Alexander had gathered $295,436 in direct and in-kind contributions.
His Democratic opponent, Melanie Wright, a public school teacher and former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, collected about $19,047 in the same period.
"We've out raised my opponent 22 to one," Alexander said, saying his campaign had proven more popular and that a lot of work involved had paid off in gathering his support.
He also stressed that he had a great deal of local support.
In addition to out performing Wright, Alexander's campaign fundraising far exceeds longtime Indiana House member Democrat Sue Errington, who collected about $95,000 in the same period for her race in House District 34. He also gathered more than Errington's Republican opponent, Dale Basham, who raised more than $39,000.
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Republican incumbent J.D. Prescott, who is running for re-election in Indiana House District 33, raised an impressive sum of about $104,332 in his race against Democrat John Bartlett, who raised about $6,000.
State Rep. Elizabeth Rowray, a Republican running for re-election is Indiana House District 35, raised $27,546, according to her report filed with the Indiana Secretary of State on Oct. 21. The campaign report of her opponent Democrat Brad Sowinski claims he raised no funds.
So why the dominating amount being spent to elect Alexander?
"I’ve got to admit that I’m mystified at the level of GOP spending in this race," said Charles Taylor, associate professor of political science and senior fellow at the Bowen Center for Public Affairs at Ball State University.
He said that in 2020, the combined two-party presidential vote in Delaware and Randolph Counties was roughly a 60-40 percent advantage for Republicans.
"Melanie Wright has some name recognition based on her earlier time in office. But so does Scott Alexander with his time on the Delaware County Council," he said.
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Perhaps Republicans feared the abortion issue and a backlash to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Dobbs case, along with the General Assembly's passage of an abortion ban, would motivate Democratic turnout, with the addition of Muncie to the district., he said.
"Especially in a mid-term election when turnout is lower." Taylor said.
Still, Taylor wonders.
"I can only speculate, but nothing seems like a really good explanation," Taylor said.
Republican state senators from other districts, including Mark Messmer, Chris Garten and Travis Holdman, provided direct contribution totaling in the thousands. The Senate Majority Campaign Committee provided Alexander's campaign with tens of thousands of dollars in in-kind contributions, including direct mail.
Alexander said his campaign has also benefited from political action committee ads supporting him but not tied to his campaign operation. He said his own campaign has mostly focused its spending direct mail and television commercial but it has included digital ads as well.
Alexander stressed that his campaign is a transparent one.
Wright, who has been doing a lot of door-to-door campaigning, said she has had time to ponder the money gathered by her opponent.
"I must assume I'm some kind of threat," she said.
It is an open seat without an incumbent and Wright said she suspects the Republicans want to win their 40th seat in the state senate as being somehow meaningful to their supermajority, which now stands at 39 Republicans to 11 Democrats in the Senate.
She also said the more she works door to door, the more mailers against her seem to go out. But she is also aware that both parties pick certain races early on that they dedicate a lot of resources to winning for any number of reasons.
"This is a race the Republican Party does not want to lose," said Laura Merrifield Wilson, an associate professor of political science at University of Indianapolis and a research associate with the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics.
There might have been a number of variables feeding into the investment of money into the race, including the fact that Wright had ran successfully in Delaware County before and what internal polling might have shown, she said.
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Alexander confirmed that there had been polls performed on his race but he declined to disclose the results. But he said he feels good going into Tuesday.
And if he wins, the GOP has determined its investment will have been worth it as only one side can succeed.
"Both in terms of money and voters," Wilson said, "it's a zero sum game."
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: GOP puts money into effort to assure win in State Senate District 26
