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John Rust, a wealthy egg farmer from Seymour, is plowing ahead with his U.S. Senate bid even as Indiana statute would appear to prevent him from getting on the Republican primary ballot.
Under a 2021 state law, Democratic and Republican candidates must have voted with their party in the past two primary elections or receive approval from the party chair in the county where they reside to get their name on a primary election ballot.
Rust, who registered as a Republican with the Federal Election Commission in July, did not vote in the past two Republican primaries, and Jackson County GOP Chair Amanda Lowery told Indianapolis Business Journal she has no plans to sign off on his candidacy.
“We have a practice in place that we don’t sign off on candidates that have a Democratic primary voting history,” Lowery said.
Rust — the chairman of the board of Seymour-based Rose Acre Farms, the country’s largest family-owned egg producer — told IBJ he voted in several Democratic primaries between 2006 and 2012 because he wanted to support local candidates.
“I voted (Democrat) because I knew people personally that I attended church with for local precincts,” Rust said.
“Back then, the Democratic Party was still for the working man and for the farmer, but you know, it’s different now,” he added, while also claiming that he “always voted for Republican candidates” in general elections.
His candidacy faces other obstacles. The Indiana GOP has already endorsed Third Congressional District Rep. Jim Banks, who is running to replace U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, who is pursuing a gubernatorial bid.
Banks’ campaign has launched an offensive against the longshot candidate. The first result that comes up in a Google search of John Rust’s name is a link to donate to Banks’ campaign with the headline, “RINO John Rust – Woke John Rust.”
“Indiana deserves a real Republican who fights for Hoosier values, not liberal John Rust,” a description below the link reads. “Anti-Trump John Rust won’t fight for Indiana values and won’t put America First.”
If Rust decides to file paperwork in January to get on the Republican ballot, his candidacy will likely be challenged. He would then have to request a hearing before the Indiana Election Commission.
Republican and Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate also need to receive 500 certified signatures from registered voters in each of Indiana’s nine congressional districts by Feb. 6.
Rust, a self-proclaimed gay Christian conservative, is not backing down despite the hurdles. He released his first campaign video last week on social media in which he denounced the Democratic “cult of identity politics” while positioning himself as an outsider candidate.
But he’s also ruling out the possibility of running as an independent in the general election should his name be removed from the Republican ballot: “I’m a conservative Republican, and I believe I will be on the ballot. I really sincerely do.”
A recent ruling from the Indiana Supreme Court is throwing more cold water on Rust’s lofty ambitions.
The state’s highest court last week denied an appeal from Charles Bookwalter, who was removed from the May 2022 primary ballot after his primary voting record revealed that he did not vote Republican in the two most recent primary elections. Bookwalter was challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Jim Baird in Indiana’s 4th Congressional District.
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