'Two-primaries law' is a weapon in Vanderburgh County GOP in-fighting

EVANSVILLE — Mike Boatman might be Donald Trump's most hardcore supporter in Evansville, or at least he thinks so. Now Boatman is using state law to challenge another Republican's eligibility to work in the party.

He's not the only one, either. The Vanderburgh County Election Board on Wednesday will hear challenges to the eligibility of 18 candidates — all but one of them Republicans — in May 7 party primary elections. At issue are party precinct committee positions, delegate slots at the June 15 state GOP convention and seats on the county Board of Commissioners.

The sticking point in most cases is Indiana's so-called "two-primaries law," which requires that a candidate's two most recent votes in Indiana primary elections must have been cast in primaries held by the party he or she seeks to represent. The law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

More: Controversial law is at heart of threat to Evansville mayoral candidates' eligibility

In Vanderburgh County, it is being wielded as a weapon by warring factions of the GOP seeking to disqualify opponents.

"I don't think she's a Republican or a conservative," Boatman said of Maytes Rivera, his opponent in the contest for a 2nd Ward GOP precinct committee position.

Vanderburgh County voting data shows Rivera indeed hasn't voted in two consecutive Republican primaries. She voted in the GOP's 2023 primary, but her most recent primary vote before that came in 2016 in a Democratic Party primary.

Boatman, whose Facebook page is festooned with images of Trump and supporters at Trump rallies, has another beef with Rivera, one more to the point for him. When she was the GOP's nominee for a City Council seat last year, he says, he asked her point blank for her opinion of Trump. She said she is a conservative, but did not address Trump. Boatman took it as sidestepping the question.

But it may not matter what Boatman thinks or even if Rivera has voted in two Republican primaries, because she has the permission of GOP Chairman Mike Duckworth to seek the precinct committee position and a state party convention delegate seat.

Rivera is a good Republican, Duckworth declared.

"She was a candidate, and a good candidate, and she worked hard for the Republicans and, yeah, I’m going to waive her as well," the GOP chairman said.

That should be enough for the election board to approve Rivera and other challenged candidates on Wednesday, according to the board's attorney, Doug Briody.

Briody told the Courier & Press that if a copy of a county party chairman's written certification of an otherwise ineligible candidate is attached to the candidate's declaration of candidacy, the candidate can prevail against a challenge based on the two-primaries law.

Party chairs use the law against candidates

The two-primaries law is a double-edged sword, though.

Duckworth and Democratic Party chair Cheryl Schultz can use the statute against ineligible candidates they don't like, too. Boatman, a vocal Duckworth critic, opined that Duckworth wouldn't hesitate to use it against him if he were not a regular Republican primary voter.

In fact, it is Duckworth who has filed challenges against 12 of the 17 Republican candidates who are on the spot at Wednesday's election board meeting.

In 2022, Duckworth used the two-primaries law to block conservative activist Gabe Whitley from running as a Republican against Democratic Rep. Ryan Hatfield — even though the GOP had no other candidate to run against Hatfield.

This year, Duckworth wielded the two-primaries law against a longtime incumbent Republican officeholder when he gave his permission for United Way CEO Amy Canterbury to challenge County Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave in this year's GOP primary election. Canterbury voted in the 2022 Democratic primary. She voted in Republican primaries in 2018 and 2016.

More: Decision to enable challenger has Musgrave calling for Duckworth's resignation

Musgrave responded by calling for Duckworth's resignation, saying his pursuit of an opponent for her in the GOP's 2023 mayoral primary "tore the party apart and handed Evansville city government to complete Democrat control."

Duckworth said he did so because Musgrave supported Democrat Jeff Hatfield against him in his unsuccessful 2018 campaign for a Board of Commissioners seat and she supported Democratic Commissioner Ben Shoulders in his 2020 re-election campaign.

Andy Downs, director emeritus of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics in Fort Wayne, could not comment on the Duckworth-Musgrave intraparty fight. But in general, Downs said, people who lead county-level political organizations don't encourage challengers to incumbent officeholders in their own parties.

"County chairs, by default, are part of 'the establishment,'" Downs said. "That suggests a tendency to favor incumbent elected officials from their party. Additionally, incumbent elected officials have bases of support that could cause problems for county chairs.

"County chairs are supposed to build the party and defeat other parties. In-fighting may be bad for party building and increase the likelihood another party might win."

Two-primaries law is under challenge

The two-primaries law is at the heart of a debate about political elitism, personal responsibility and basic fairness.

Opponents say the law's aim is to deny the right to run to anyone who isn't already part of the political elite. Supporters in both major parties say it's not unreasonable to weed out candidates who haven't shown any real party loyalty. There's a simple remedy, they say: Vote in two consecutive party primaries and there won't be a problem.

More: From U.S. president to county judge, candidates face challenges to run in Indiana primary

The competing arguments may play out on a statewide stage Tuesday when the Indiana Election Commission meets to decide 30 primary ballot challenges against candidates trying to run for office in 2024, from president of the United States to Warrick County Superior Court judge.

Six people submitted challenges to Republican U.S. Senate hopeful John Rust’s candidacy — all tied to Rust not meeting the terms of the two-primaries law. Rust has neither voted in the GOP’s last two primary elections nor gotten approval from his county party chair to get on the primary ballot. The statute is the subject of Rust’s lawsuit against the state, which is before the Indiana Supreme Court.

A challenge filed against B. Nicholas Dossett, Republican candidate for Warrick County Superior Judge No. 2, alleges that Dossett does not meet the terms of the two-primaries law.

At Wednesday's Vanderburgh County Election Board meeting, challenged candidates may argue that they are loyal Republicans or Democrats even without the required primary voting history or chairman's permission. But they aren't likely to win.

Briody, the board's attorney, said being eligible to run is strictly a matter of the candidates having cast their two most recent primary votes in Indiana in their desired party, or providing a party chair's certification. That's it.

The election board will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Room 216 of the Civic Center in Evansville. The meeting is open to the public.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: 'Two-primaries law' is a weapon in Vanderburgh County GOP in-fighting