Democrat spending on legislative races pales in comparison to Republicans

Republicans are pouring financial resources into a handful of legislative races around the state, recognizing potentially tight margins with an aim to protect the party’s supermajority hold in the General Assembly.

In the 100-member House chamber, Democrats would need to pick up four seats to break the supermajority and keep all 30 of their current positions. In the Senate, with 50 lawmakers, Democrats only hold ten seats and would need another seven legislators to break the supermajority.

However, the parties appear to take different approaches when it comes to candidate support: while individual Republican candidates receive large donations from their respective caucuses, Democrats get more of a hodge-podge approach from various, smaller organizations associated with the party under different names.

The House Republican Campaign Committee, which holds the caucus’ purse, has spent over $1 million in October alone — largely funneling money to two current members; one seat where a Republican lawmaker retired; and a potential pick-up opportunity in Southern Indiana.

The Republican Senate Majority Campaign Committee has spent over $68,000 on its members — nearly all of it in-kind donations, usually services and not monetary contributions — with Sen. Aaron Freeman netting more than $36,000, or 52%, of those dollars.

Freeman reported seven large contributions — defined as a donation over $10,000 at any time or over $1,000 between reporting periods — in October alone. Outside of the funds from the Senate committee, he also received $28,000 from the state party’s central committee; $10,000 from a retired lawmaker’s campaign coffers; and another $17,500 in an in-kind contribution from the state party.

In all, Freeman reported more than $91,000 in direct and in-kind contributions from his party in the past month.

Freeman faces a challenge from Katrina Owens, a consultant and college instructor, to represent the southeastern Indianapolis district that includes portions of Johnson County.

But Owens isn’t getting the same level of support from her party’s coffers.

Owens had just one large contribution since filing in February: $7,000 from Indiana Senate Democrats for in-kind support earlier this month, according to the Secretary of State’s campaign finance portal.

Spending on House races

The Indiana Capital Chronicle only looked at contributions to legislative races from the month of October ahead of the Nov. 5 election, analyzing where the respective political parties were concentrating their resources in the crucial runup.

Though 13 Republican house candidates — both newcomers and incumbent lawmakers — got money from the House Republican Campaign Committee, two men accounted for more than 56% of that money.

Southern Indiana’s Scott Hawkins, a Republican, is running again for the seat previously held by Rep. Rita Fleming, a Democrat. Following the primary election in May, Fleming stepped down and Wendy Dant Chesser was chosen as her replacement in a party caucus. Hawkins nearly defeated Fleming in 2022, losing by less than 300 votes.

In the last month, House Republicans have sent more than $302,000 his way followed by more than $291,000 to Monroe County’s Dave Hall. Hall won the seat in 2022 with just 74 votes against Penny Githens, a Democrat.

This year, Thomas Horrocks has stepped into the race as the Democratic challenger.

In the last few weeks, the caucus has also stepped up its spending on another one-term incumbent: Rep. Becky Cash. Cash has received just over $155,000 in her battle against Democrat Tiffany Stoner.

The last big winner isn’t yet a member of the caucus, but is seeking to fill the shoes of retiring Rep. Jerry Torr, a Republican.

Republican Danny Lopez, a Pacers executive, is in a tight race with Democrat Matt McNally. Lopez has received over $158,000 from the Republican caucus. Lopez also received $5,000 from a retired lawmaker’s account and another $1,000 from a current Republican senator.

Not all races with razor-thin margins have gotten the same attention. Notably, Democratic Rep. Mitch Gore has barely held onto his Indianapolis seat in the last two cycles but Republican challenger Yvonne Metcalfe hasn’t gotten any financial support from the caucus.

The Indiana House Democratic Caucus has only contributed to one of the above candidates: Dant Chesser. In the last two weeks, she has received $106,500 from the group. The only other recipient for the caucus is the Indiana Democratic State Central Committee for $176,300.

Another Democratic lawmaker gave Dant Chesser $1,250 and the Ninth Congressional Democrat Central Committee contributed $1,000 for in-kind services for a total of $108,800 in party money.

Horrocks, on the other hand, received $3,300 from two current Democratic lawmakers and another $1,000 from the same Ninth Congressional fund in October.

Stoner has received three contributions from the IN House Democrats for a total of $59,000. The Boone County Democratic Party has also chipped in $3,000.

McNally’s biggest party contributor was the Indiana Dems, which gave $51,000, followed by a Democratic lawmaker with $1,250.

The Indiana Democratic State Central Committee this year has reported just one candidate contribution in 2024: $30,000 to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jennifer McCormick.

But an outgoing treasurer report from July 18 to Oct. 11 documents more than $1.2 million in spending, including tens of thousands of dollars spent on mailer services — but doesn’t specify which candidates benefitted from those dollars.

The Indiana Democratic Party declined to comment on its spending in legislative races.

Back in the Senate

The Indiana Senate Democrat Committee has directed most of its contributions, or $67,000 out of $114,000, this month to the state central committee. McCormick got $30,000 of that money and Joel Levi is the lone Senate candidate to get any money, getting nearly $17,000 last week — both of which were in-kind donations.

Levi is running against Sen. Scott Baldwin, a Republican from Noblesville.

Either way, the Republican counterpart has been outspending both groups in October. In addition to Freeman, the Senate Majority Campaign Committee gave funds to Baldwin; Sen. Mike Bohacek of Michiana Shores; and Indianapolis Sen. Cyndi Carrasco.

Of those candidates, the Indiana Republican State Committee gave nearly $60,000 to Baldwin and another $69,000 to Carrasco. Bohacek and Carrasco also got smaller donations from their Senate colleagues.

In an Oct. 28 release, Carrasco’s opponent Suzanne Fortenberry questioned whether such spending demonstrated “fiscal responsibility” from Carrasco, compared to the much smaller sums for the Fortenberry campaign.

“When I first met my Republican challenger Cyndi Carrasco, we mutually agreed to run a civil campaign based on the issues. Unfortunately, Cyndi is hiding behind her Republican friends downtown while they issue expensive mailers packed with false attacks on statements I have made in the past,” Fortenberry said.

“According to campaign finance filings, Republicans have spent over $60,000, the average salary of a teacher here in Indiana, on the mailers. All said and done, the Carrasco campaign has spent over $270,000 on a seat they already hold. Could you imagine what good we could do with $270,000?” Fortenberry continued.

Fortenberry’s campaign clarified that $270,000 is the year-to-date total. Fortenberry has reported no large contributions in the campaign finance portal and said she’d only spent $10,000 on the race.

The Carrasco campaign didn’t respond to a Friday email from the Indiana Capital Chronicle. This is Carrasco’s first legislative race after being chosen for the seat in a party caucus in 2023 following the unexpected death of the late Sen. Jack Sandlin.

Polls close at 6 p.m. on Election Day, though any voter in line at that time will have an opportunity to cast their ballot. More than 1 million Hoosiers have already voted since early voting began on Oct. 8.

The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.