99 days to Election Day
Plus: Why the abortion debate won't lead to a RFRA 2.0 and this week's winners and losers.
With 99 days to Election Day, most of Indiana’s marquee races are shaping up to be sleepy affairs. Except, that is, for at least two: the 1st Congressional District and Indiana’s Secretary of State contest.
In the 1st, Republican Jennifer-Ruth Green, the Air Force vet and Fox News fixture, is running hard against Democratic freshman Rep. Frank Mrvan, and nonpartisan race rating experts have switched it from “leans Democratic” to “toss-up.”
“This working-class, post-industrial northwest Indiana district has seen its Democratic lean erode in the Donald Trump era, even though Biden still carried it by 8 points,” Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, wrote. “But Democrats have been losing ground in these kinds of districts in recent years, so we’re calling it a Toss-up now.”
But that’s not all: In a sign that they think Green’s momentum is real, Congressional Leadership Fund and American Action Network, the House Republican issue advocacy group, dropped $500,000 last week in the Chicago media market on broadcast and cable on her behalf.
In Indiana’s Secretary of State race, Democratic candidate Destiny Wells—the former deputy attorney general and veteran—is within the margin of error against Republican Deigo Morales.
IMPORTANTVILLE TAKE: The 1st District Congressional race matters because it could spell the beginning of the end for Democrats in Northwest Indiana. The Secretary of State race is one to watch because it could bring Democrats their first statewide win since the Glenda Ritz and Joe Donnelly era—and Republicans have nominated a historically weak candidate in Deigo Morales. What races are you watching this fall? Which competitive ones did I miss?
Good Monday evening, and welcome back to IMPORTANTVILLE. It was a busy week in Hoosier politics. Scroll down for an explainer on why Indiana’s abortion debate hasn’t yet led to a RFRA 2.0 brouhaha and last week’s winners and losers in Indiana politics.
SPECIAL SESSION LOOKAHEAD: The Indiana House will hold a committee meeting on Senate Bill 1, the near-total abortion ban, at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Ways and Means will also hear Senate Bill 2 in Room 404 Tuesday. The House is set to be in session on Thursday and Friday at 9 a.m.
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