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

UPDATE: The Indiana Election Commission at its Feb. 27, 2024 meeting dismissed challenges against the following candidates: Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Jennifer McCormick and Sarah Shydale. The commission voted to remove the following candidates from primary ballots: John Rust, Tamie Dixon-Tatum, Scott A. King, Jonathan D. Brown and B. Nicholas Dossett.

UPDATE: The challenge filed against U.S. Rep. Jim Banks was withdrawn on Feb. 22, 2024 ahead of the Indiana Election Commission meeting.

The Indiana Election Commission must 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.

The four commission members — two Republicans and two Democrats — are recommended by their party's state chair and then appointed by the governor, according to the commission's website.

Among the many cases they will hear next week, those tied to former President Donald Trump and Republican U.S. Senate hopeful John Rust are likely to draw the most attention.

Here's why Trump, Rust and some other primary candidates that have been challenged. The Indiana Election Commission meets Feb. 27 at 10 a.m.

Donald Trump

Office sought: President of the United States

Party: Republican

Reason challenged: The challenge against Trump’s eligibility states that, under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, a person is unable to be president if they “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” The challenge cites statements Trump made on Jan. 6, 2021, and the report from the House Select Committee that investigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol as evidence that he did just that. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering whether to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to keep Trump off the presidential ballot in that state under the same rationale.

Joe Biden

Office sought: President of the United States

Party: Democratic

Reason challenged: The challenge alleges that Biden did not meet petition signature requirements due to fraudulent and incomplete signatures.

John Rust

Office sought: U.S. Senate

Party: Republican

Reason challenged: Six people submitted challenges to Rust’s candidacy — all tied to Rust not meeting the state’s party affiliation statute. According to the law, candidates must vote in their desired party’s last two primary elections or get approval from their county party chair to get on the primary ballot. Rust has not met either of those requirements. The statute is the subject of Rust’s lawsuit against the state, which is before the Indiana Supreme Court.

Jim Banks

Office sought: U.S. Senate

Party: Republican

Reason challenged: The challenge against U.S. Rep. Jim Banks alleges that the congressman has not met the threshold requirements for petition signatures. Candidates for president, U.S. Senate and governor have to submit 500 petition signatures from each of Indiana’s nine congressional districts. Banks submitted more than 9,000 petition signatures from across the state ahead of the Feb. 9 filing deadline, according to the Indiana Elections Division.

Jennifer McCormick

Office sought: Governor

Party: Democratic

Reason challenged: Tamie Dixon-Tatum, who is also seeking the governor’s office as a Democrat, submitted the complaint against McCormick’s campaign. Dixon-Tatum alleges that Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl told Tatum that McCormick would be the party’s nominee even if she did not meet the petition requirements. Sam Barloga, a spokesperson for the party, told IndyStar on Friday that Dixon-Tatum’s claim is "unequivocally false."

Tamie Dixon-Tatum

Office sought: Governor

Party: Democratic

Reason challenged: The challenge against Dixon-Tatum is that she did not meet the number of signatures required to file to run for governor. As of the filing deadline, Dixon-Tatum, the civil and human rights director for the city of Anderson, had less than half the verified signatures she needed, according to the Indiana Election Division.

Jonathan D. Brown and Scott A. King

Office sought: U.S. House District 5

Party: Republican

Reason challenged: Two people challenged both Brown's and King’s candidacies for the state’s 5th Congressional District primary, citing Indiana’s party affiliation statute. Both challenges state that Brown and King did not vote in the Republican Party’s last two primary elections.

Sarah Shydale

Office sought: State House District 97

Party: Democratic

Reason challenged: Two people challenged Shydale’s bid, alleging that she lived at an address outside the district and did not register to vote in the district until December. Indiana law states a candidate must have lived in their district for at least one year prior to running for office.

B. Nicholas Dossett

Office sought: Warrick County Superior Judge No. 2

Party: Republican

Reason challenged: The challenge filed against Dossett alleges that the candidate does not meet Indiana's party affiliation statute and states that Dossett did not vote as a Republican in the last two primary elections.

Contact IndyStar's state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana primary election 2024: Candidates face ballot challenges