Indiana Wars: Revenge of the Trump

Jim Buck can’t overcome $1.3 million PAC attack

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One thing State Senator Jim Buck never had been called before was liberal. And he never had faced a real political challenge while sitting as the District 21 Senator over the course of 18 years.

Then came President Donald Trump.

Incensed over Buck’s vote to block a political redistricting outside of the normal decennial tradition, Trump ordered his Political Action Committees to attack; a drama replayed across the state in the President’s quest for revenge against seven Republican senators who dared defy him.

After two months of propaganda filling mailboxes daily and $13.4 million in spiteful spending across the state, Washington got its way. Buck is out, as are four other senators. Indiana is Trump country, perhaps more so than most “red” states. And Howard County did its part to appease the President.

“We couldn’t overcome $1.3 million in spending,” said Judy Buck, Jim’s wife, as the vote totals began to roll in on election night.

Local voters chose Tracey Powell, a current Tipton County Commissioner, by a large margin, landing 64 percent of ballots cast in the Republican primary.

Not surprisingly, the election-night result was watched carefully by state and national media. As arguably one of the most conservative senators in state history, Buck was sacrificed in full view of the entire country. He was a darling of the Indiana Family Institute (100-percent approval) and a reliable ally for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce (85-percent approval). He also was the former national chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), one of the most influential, pro-corporate, right-wing organizations on the planet.

None of it mattered to Trump or the voters.

That political thumb on the scale spilled out of the Dist. 21 race to impact other local contests. Paula Davis, the county chair for Moms for Liberty, slid into the driver’s seat to occupy the Indiana House Dist. 30 seat being relinquished by Rep. Mike Karickhoff. She easily dispatched Kokomo Common Council Ray Collins in their primary contest, 63-32.

However, local Republicans had to draw the line somewhere. That happened in the race for 5th District U.S. Representative. Incumbent Victoria Spartz, an occasional outside voice against the Trump administration, turned away a challenge from Noblesville-based Scott King, 55-41. King, a far-right extremist, apparently occupied a political space that even Howard County couldn’t abide.

In other contested races in the Republican primary, Heath Van Natter turned back a challenge from Mark Hufford for the Indiana Rep. District 38 primary, 63-32. Rebecca Vent prevailed in a three-way race for the Howard Circuit Court bench with 38 percent of the vote, outpacing Cheyenne Shepherd (29 percent) and Thomas White (28 percent).

Jordan Buckley was successful in grabbing the nomination for Howard County Sheriff, 65-31, over Harold Vincent. Jeff Lipinski will try to keep his seat on the Howard County Board of Commissioners in November after defeating Joe Russeau, 54-37. And John Roberts thumped challenger Bob Carrico, 59-30, with 11 percent of voters choosing none of the above.

In the only other contested local race on the Republican ballot, Jensen Pickett downed David Ancil, 52-36, for the right to run for Taylor Township Trustee in November.

Buckley, who also serves as the chair of the local Republican Party, delivered a message urging unity as the fallout from the night emerged.

“There are a lot of different perspectives and a lot of energy,” said Buckley. “That’s part of the process. That’s what happens when people are engaged and invested in our future. But when the votes are counted tonight, one thing needs to be clear: we are still one party.

“We move forward together. We support one another, and we stay focused on what matters most: serving the people of Howard County, At the end of the day, the strength of this party has never been about any one candidate. It’s about people willing to stand together even after a hard-fought primary. Let’s be respectful. Let’s be supportive, and let’s recognize the hard work it took for every candidate to get to this moment, while remembering that tomorrow, we move forward together again.”

Howard County Democrats also had a stake in their primary contests. At the top of the list was the District 5 Congressional race, which saw State Sen. J.D. Ford best a field of seven candidates for the nomination. He outpaced second-place finisher Deborah Pickett by nine points.

Closer to home, Kirsten Root overcame a challenge from Joe Kazlas to win the State Representative Dist. 21 nomination, 61-35.

The only other contested race on a Howard County ballot took place in one part of Honey Creek Township in the far southwestern corner of the county. The race for U.S. Representative, District 4, takes place there. On the Democratic side, Joe Mackey was the voters’ choice with just 10 of 39 ballots checking his box. Across the district, however, Drew Cox was chosen for November with 30 percent of the vote.

Incumbent Republican Jim Baird won his party’s nomination in Honey Creek with 124 votes out of a pool of 193. His dominance wasn’t as pronounced across the district, but he did secure the nomination with 61 percent of the vote.