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Exploring the financial fallout of Indiana’s most expensive primary – Indianapolis News | Weather in Indiana | Traffic in Indiana
(INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE) – After the most expensive primary in Indiana history, how will unsuccessful candidates pay off millions of borrowed dollars?
So far, campaigns have remained silent on next steps on debt. That includes Republican candidate for governor Brad Chamberswho lent his 2024 campaign more than $10 million.
The businessman’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment about his personal loans.
Eric Doden, who also sought the state’s highest executive office, received a seven-figure campaign loan and equally large contributions from his mother and father. His campaign declined to comment on post-election plans to borrow money.
According to the Indiana Division of Elections, committees can repay their loans or the person or entity that provided the loan can choose to forgive it.
Angie Nussmeyer, co-director of the elections division, noted that all loans owed to or by a committee must have a zero dollar balance — and cash on hand must also be zero — to ultimately dissolve a candidate’s committee.
But there is no deadline for dissolution, she said – it can be done at any time. So far, no candidate who failed to win statewide nominations in the May primary has submitted the necessary documentation for official dissolution, according to the Indiana Secretary of State’s office.
Second quarter reports indicating campaign contributions, spending, and other financial activity from April 1 to June 30 do not expire until July 15th.
But it is also possible for candidates to postpone loan repayments and save their political contributions for a later campaign.
It was a notable move by former Democratic governor Evan Bayh, who had $9.2 million ready to spend in his campaign coffers when he announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate in 2016. Although Bayh hadn’t been in office for six years, his previous campaign funds had been left untouched.
Even so, he ended up losing his candidacy to Republican Todd Young, now Indiana’s senior senator.
In the same election cycle, Tennessee Republican Trey Hollingsworth spent more than $3 million of his own money, and his father added $1.5 million through a political action committee, to win Indiana’s 9th Congressional District .
Once elected, however, Hollingsworth looked at his new colleagues for donations to pay off nearly a quarter of a million dollars he owed his pollster and other political consultants.
Self-Financing Is Not Enough for Victory in the Governor’s Race
Despite investing millions of dollars in their own campaigns, Chambers and Doden fell short at the polls earlier this month, losing to US Senator Mike Braun.
Now chosen by the Republican Party in the race for governor, Braun will face Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater in the November elections.
Campaign finance reports indicate that Chambers – who paid for most of his bid for the Republican nomination for governor – raised a total of $10.5 million for his campaign between September 1, 2023 and May 3, just days earlier voters to go to the polls.
State campaign finance records further show that Doden donated $200,000 to his campaign, and his family members contributed $4,875,000 in loans and direct contributions.
This included multiple $1 million donations from his father, Daryle Doden, and his mother, Brenda Doden. A separate $1 million loan from her parents is still outstanding, records show.
The other candidates running in the crowded Republican primary for governor — Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, former Attorney General Curtis Hill and clergyman Jamie Reitenour — did not borrow from themselves or others, according to the latest state records .
To date, Braun has raised around $13 million. His campaign did not report any outstanding loans or debts.
Any campaign donations unspent by candidates cannot be used for personal expenses, but can be put toward other political or charitable uses. Among these options is forwarding the remaining money to other candidates.
Big Spending on Other Indiana Races
Republican candidates in the 5th and 6th Congressional District primaries also funneled millions of dollars into their own campaigns.
In the 5th District, Gaylor Electric CEO and State Rep. Chuck Goodrich has lent $4.6 million to his campaign since March 2023, according to federal election reports. Goodrich lost her candidacy to current Republican U.S. Representative Victoria Spartz.
In the Republican primary for the 6th District, wealthy businessman Jefferson Shreve loaned $4.5 million to his successful primary campaign. Indianapolis state Rep. Mike Speedy, who is leaving his position at the Statehouse, has invested $1.3 million in his campaign. Meanwhile, Richmond businessman Jamison Carrier self-funded $750,000 for his campaign for the 6th District.
Significant self-spending among Indiana candidates appears to be part of a national trend.
From 2002 to 2022, the amount of self-funding in congressional races – the total dollar amount in all races – quadrupled, according to the non-profit organization OpenSecretsthat monitors electoral spending.
The practice was driven, in part, by the U.S. Supreme Court’s repeated rulings to protect candidates’ unlimited ability to lend or donate to themselves.