The Indiana Supreme Court has declared incumbent Senator Spencer Deery the winner of his primary race against Trump-backed Paula Copenhaver.
When reached for comment, Deery said the court’s decision made him proud.
“This was a lot bigger than me,” he said. “It says that Indiana is a place where if you do everything right as a voter: you vote, you check all the boxes, you show your ID, you register, your vote should count.”
Paula Copenhaver did not respond to WFYI’s request for comment.
The decision ends a months-long legal battle over who is the rightful winner in Indiana’s 23rd Senate District. The initial count in the close race ended with Deery just three votes ahead of Copenhaver.
Copenhaver quickly called for a recount, challenging ballots and calling for voters to be subpoenaed; she claimed they had crossed over and voted for Deery despite being long-time Democrats.
The case then went to Indiana’s Recount Commission, which upset Deery’s win, tossing out a number of ballots for missing clerks signatures.
On Thursday, the Indiana Supreme Court weighed in on whether the recount commission erred in tossing out just enough ballots to tip Deery’s lead.
During arguments, Justice Derek Molter asked whether there was an inherent problem in how the secretary of state’s office had weighed in on the ballots.
“It seems problematic to me that you have the secretary of state before the election saying if this scenario were to arise we will count the ballot and it’s only after the election when we know who that’s going to benefit that that view flips,” he said.
Other justices asked whether the decision to exclude ballots sets a precedent moving forward.
Justice Geoffrey Slaughter asked whether the recount commission’s decision would set a precedent moving forward.
“They’ve decided in their exercise of their discretion here that they aren’t going to count ballots that are missing the clerk’s signature and seal,” he said. “Are they obliged to apply the same rule the next time?”
The case has caught the attention of many state political leaders. Republicans raised concerns about the “crossover” votes Copenhaver initially pointed out. That discussion led to Republican Secretary of State Candidate Max Engling to call for closed primaries.
Greg Ballard, an Independent Secretary of State Candidate, attended Thursday’s hearing. He said he was very concerned by the Secretary of State Diego Morales’ decision to weigh in as he did.
“It goes to voter intent,” Ballard said. “We came out a few weeks ago about how the recount commission should be conducting its business, it needs to change frankly. This proves it.”
This also marks the final race marked by the decision by some Indiana Republicans to oppose President Donald Trump’s call for mid-decade redistricting. Deery is now one of only two Republicans to survive primary challenges brought by Trump after he decided to vote against redistricting in December.
The court’s decision now sends Deery to the November ballot.
Contact Government Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org
