INDIANAPOLIS —
Indiana’s hotly contested Republican Senate primary race has generated more than $12 million in campaign spending, including a record-topping $4 million in outside dollars.
The intra-party fight between incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar and his challenger, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, has also attracted the rapt attention of the national news media who’ve dubbed it the marquee race to watch.
But so far, all that money and media coverage hasn’t made voters eager to vote, according to one indicator: Early voting — including the number of absentee ballots requested by Hoosier voters for Tuesday’s primary — is down significantly from years past.
“We’re way behind,” said Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson, who serves as the state’s chief election officer.
No one expected a repeat of the blow-out numbers in 2008, when then candidates Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton were in a virtual arm-wrestling match for the Democratic presidential nomination. The state set a record for primary voting — early, absentee and otherwise.
But this year’s early voting numbers are lagging behind the 2010 and 2006 primary voting numbers as well.
As of May 1 — just past the deadline for applying for an absentee ballot by mail — 48,946 Hoosiers had requested an absentee ballot for Tuesday’s primary election.
That’s about 30,000 less than at the same point two years ago, when 79,228 Hoosiers had requested an absentee ballot for the 2010 primary election. In 2006, more than 61,000 Hoosiers cast their primary ballot by absentee vote.
Lawson cast her vote early, by absentee ballot, last weekend since she plans to be busy Tuesday visiting vote centers and monitoring the election. She’s not sure why others aren’t following suit.
But some people who study politics think there is a combination of forces at work, ranging from the lack of contested races to the revulsion of voters.
Political scientist Andrew Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, said there’s not much primary competition in many of the contests for state and local offices.
He notes, for example, there are 100 seats in the Indiana House of Representatives, but only 30 where Republicans are vying against each other; there are only 13 state House races with Democratic contests.
But he suspects there’s more to it. He thinks the overheated rhetoric of political campaigns nationwide may be proving toxic for some voters.
“It is so combative,” Downs said. “There is a surprisingly large number of people who think it’s damaging to the electorate.”
Ed Feigenbaum, publisher of Indiana Legislative Insight, has been surprised by the low early turnout.
It’s not what he expected; in addition to the noisy and expensive Lugar-Mourdock race, there are at least two U.S. congressional races where the primary victor will be the champion in the fall election.
“I wonder whether people are simply turned off by the negative campaigns or whether they may be undecided and don’t want to vote until they have a better idea as to whom they should vote for,” Feigenbaum said by email.
Political scientist Michael Wolf of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics has been studying voter behavior in recent elections. He’s found that while some voters are turned off by bitter politicking, many others are turned on.
Research he did in the 2010 elections nationally found that people who identified themselves strongly in partisan terms and who see compromise as a vice rather than a virtue responded to political vitriol in a positive way: They were the ones who turned out to vote.
“There was a huge plurality (of voters) who were mobilized by incivility,” he said. Based on his research, Wolf’s prediction is this: Don’t expect political campaigns to get any nicer anytime soon.
Maureen Hayden covers the Statehouse for the CNHI newspapers in Indiana. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.
State News
Early voting, including absentee ballots, declines from 2008
Secretary of state: ‘We’re way behind’
- State News
-
-
Report: State is both ‘leader and laggard’
A newly released report card on where Indiana ranks nationally in key economic measures shows the state is both “a leader and a laggard” in areas that signal potential for more prosperity.
-
Indiana’s high school grad rate continues upward
Indiana’s reported high school graduation rate continues to improve, moving from 77 percent to more than 88 percent in less than a decade, but there are still significant achievement gaps marked by race and income.
-
Schools chief Ritz on fast learning curve
For many occupants of the Indiana Statehouse, the week after the General Assembly wraps up its final frenzy of work is a quiet one. But not for Glenda Ritz.
-
SLIDESHOW: Governor Otis R. Bowen
Photos from the Indiana State Archives of the late Otis R. Bowen, who served as governor of the state as well as in the Ronald Reagan White House. The Bremen native died Saturday
-
Out of office, Lugar shuns retirement
One year ago, Indiana’s longest serving U.S. senator was rejected by Republican primary voters and forced into an unwelcome retirement from a distinguished political career that spanned 46 years. But at 81, former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar is hardly in a resting mode.
-
Lugar wary of Syria involvement
Former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar has been out of office since early January, but he’s still being sought after for his opinion about foreign policy matters he once helped shape.
-
Judge grants class status to lawsuit again BMV
INDIANAPOLIS — As many as 4 million Indiana drivers could become plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has overcharged for driver’s licenses since 2007.
-
Budget deal includes little funding for criminal code reform
Facing the end-of-session deadline, Indiana legislators moved forward on a bill to overhaul the state’s criminal sentencing laws but left undone the issue of where local communities will get the money to implement it.
-
Legislators closing in on final budget
In his first four months as the chief budget maker in the Indiana House, Republican Rep. Tim Brown hasn’t been surprised by the long hours, multiple demands and intense debate that goes with crafting a $30 billion spending plan.
-
New poll shows voters tepid on Pence tax plan
With just days to go before the deadline for a final budget bill, a new independent poll shows Republican Gov. Mike Pence may not have gotten much mileage for his travels around the state pitching his 10 percent tax cut plan.
-
DOC hopes ‘cold case’ cards lead to solved cases
Indiana state prison officials are using customized playing cards for a deadly serious purpose: To help unlock the mysteries of unsolved murders and persons gone missing.
-
Indiana attorney general says Congress must act on immigration reform
Amidst concerns that the Boston Marathon bombing may derail federal action on comprehensive immigration reform, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is turning up some collective heat on Congress to move ahead.
-
Disagreements stall criminal code reform bill
Negotiations over the final language in a bill that rewrites Indiana’s criminal code may come down to the last week of the legislative session.
-
Budget forecasters predict bigger drop in gaming revenues
While a gaming bill is still in play in the General Assembly, state budget forecasters are predicting the payoff to the state from legalized gambling will be even lower than they thought.
-
Legislature heads into final stretch
The Indiana General Assembly has slogged its way through hundreds of bills since convening in January but in some critical ways, the real work has just begun.
-
Criminal records bill passes Indiana Senate
Legislation that would allow some people with long-ago arrests and convictions in Indiana to wipe clean their criminal record has moved one step closer to the governor’s desk.
-
Court challenge likely for welfare drug-testing bill
Both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly have passed a bill that ties drug testing to welfare benefits, but if signed into law, the next debate may be on the question: Is it constitutional?
-
Push to roll back ban on in-state tuition for immigrants stops short
House Republicans who wanted to roll back a two-year-old ban on in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants have abandoned their plan to expand a Senate bill covering a much smaller group of students.
-
House committee OKs in-state tuition for some undocumented students
The debate over in-state college tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants is headed for the Indiana House.
-
Legislators working on funding plan for criminal code rewrite
As legislation that overhauls Indiana’s criminal code moves forward, supporters of the bill are working on finding funding for local communities to implement it.
-
Republican super PAC leader backs immigration reform
As the politics of immigration reform heats up in the Statehouse and Congress, a prominent Republican is ramping up his efforts to rid the influence of what he calls anti-immigrant “extremists” in his party.
-
House considers bill to shorten school day
Legislation that would have freed the state’s high-performing schools from the mandatory 180-day school year has been amended in the House with a provision to shorten the school day instead.
-
House committee debates ban on in-state tuition for immigrant children
Two years after banning the children of undocumented immigrants from paying in-state tuition rates at the state’s public universities, Indiana legislators are debating whether to roll back that prohibition.
-
Pence says Senate GOP plan for 3 percent tax cut not enough
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence appears to be still dug in on his demand for a 10 percent income tax cut, despite a “nod” from Senate Republicans willing to give him a smaller slice of what he wants.
-
Conservative coalition supports rollback of immigrant tuition ban
Supporters of a national coalition of conservative clergy, law enforcement and business leaders are calling on Indiana lawmakers to roll back the state’s ban on in-state college tuition for the children of immigrants who came here illegally.
-
Pence’s 'ERASER' bill appears dead
Legislation pushed by Gov. Mike Pence to eliminate licensing requirements for more than a dozen occupations is apparently dead, killed by a lack of support from both Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly.
-
Bill limiting seclusion and restraint to discipline students moves ahead
Legislation aimed at reducing the use of physical restraints and locked isolation rooms to discipline students continues to gain support in the General Assembly.
-
House committee pushes Pence to negotiate Medicaid expansion
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has insisted he won’t expand what he calls the “broken” Medicaid health insurance program for the poor, but some state legislators are encouraging him to do so, even it’s called by another name.
-
Debate over pot penalties not over in Indiana
The politics of pot may keep Indiana lawmakers from rolling back the state’s tough marijuana laws this session, but it won’t eradicate the push for decriminalization.
-
Gun-rights lawmaker wants tougher gun penalty
One of the chief sponsors of legislation that would rewrite the Indiana criminal code wants to amend the bill to add a mandatory five-year prison sentence for using a gun to commit a felony.
- More State News Headlines
-
Report: State is both ‘leader and laggard’
Raw: Aftermath of Deadly Attack in London
Okla. Teens Get Video of Deadly Tornado Overhead
Man Shot While Questioned in Boston Probe
Raw: Kevin Durant Tours Moore After $1M Pledge
9-year-old Tornado Victim Loved Family, Singing
School Storm Protection Spotty in Tornado Zones
Weiner Launches Bid to Become NYC Mayor
Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam
Okla. City Mayor: Up to 13K Homes Hit by Tornado
Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado
Oklahoma Survivors, Heroes Survey Damage
Raw: Costa Rica Volcano Roars to Life
Moore Native Toby Keith Tours Tornado Damage
Today in History May 22
Raw: Scuffles in London After Hacking Death
Florida FBI Shooting Has Boston Bombing Links
IRS Official Pleads 5th Amendment
Raw: Japan's WWII Atrocities Under Fire in Seoul
Raw: Students Clash With Police in Chile
Paperless Scanner, Vision of the Future
AK-47-wielding thug may be the most bumbling crook ever
Trout's cycle a boost for Angels
Kim Kardashian Flaunts Pregnant Bikini Body in Greece
NBA star pledges $1M to help tornado recovery
Shakira's Shocking Talent
Morgan Freeman falls asleep on air
GRAPHIC: Blood-Soaked Machete Killer Caught on Tape
Elin Nordegren Furious With Lindsey Vonn For Parading Kids in Public
Camera Captures Climber As He Loses Grip And Falls
Helen Mirren Meets with Dying Boy in Queen Elizabeth's Place
Crowd Chants '¡Si, Se Puede!' After Passage of Immigration Bill
DWTS Crowns a Winner
Police Ram House to End Hostage Standoff
Demi Moore a Rocks Bikini at Harry Morton's Family House
Anthony Weiner: I'm running for New York City mayor
Kate Middleton's Dress Flies Up
VIRAL: Baby makes epic soccer goal
The Hangover Baby All Grown Up
