{"id":38125,"date":"2026-08-11T07:03:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T02:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38125"},"modified":"2026-08-11T07:03:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T02:03:46","slug":"recount-puts-trump-backed-challenger-in-the-lead-of-indiana-state-senate-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38125","title":{"rendered":"Recount puts Trump-backed challenger in the lead of Indiana state Senate primary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-2e1406\" class=\"body-graf\">A recount in a contested Indiana state Senate primary in May has put Republican Paula Copenhaver, who was backed by President Donald Trump, ahead of incumbent Spencer Deery. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-4ac53c\" class=\"body-graf\">Deery was one of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/indiana-legislators-primary-election-trump-redistricting-state-senate-rcna343321\" target=\"_blank\">seven GOP members<\/a> of the state Senate who faced primary challengers this spring after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/elections\/indiana-senate-vote-trump-backed-congressional-map-gop-resistance-rcna247833\" target=\"_blank\">having voted down a redrawn congressional map<\/a> that Trump pushed last year. Five lost, while Deery clung to a three-vote lead, which Copenhaver challenged. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-0e7d4a\" class=\"body-graf\">On Monday, the Indiana Recount Commission threw out 10 votes \u2014 eight for Deery and two for Copenhaver \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/indianacapitalchronicle.com\/2026\/08\/10\/trump-backed-challenger-jumps-ahead-of-republican-senator-in-indiana-recount\/\" target=\"_blank\">the Indiana Capital Chronicle<\/a> reported, giving Copenhaver a three-vote edge. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-0afe2b\" class=\"body-graf\">Deery <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SpencerDeery\/status\/2086875455030767629\" target=\"_blank\">said on X<\/a> that he would appeal the decision, calling it an \u201cattempt to undermine the will of voters by treating ballots differently based on whether they furthered the president\u2019s political goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-cca4d0\" class=\"body-graf\">In a text message to NBC News, Deery said the commission\u2019s ruling set a bad precedent for future election challenges. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-378b5c\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cWhat was most remarkable about today\u2019s hearing was that voter intent was never in question. None of the ballots challenged were discarded because there was uncertainty about whom the voter intended to support. The disputes instead centered on technicalities resulting from errors by government officials,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are confident Indiana\u2019s appellate courts will restore the vote totals that have been counted and recounted and reaffirm the choice voters made in Senate District 23.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"styles_inlineImage__FvnTh styles_medium__MEKii\" id=\"anchor-3f8cca\"><picture class=\"styles_image__i32F7\" data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"fit\" data-original-height=\"1467\" data-original-width=\"2200\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260810-Spencer-Deery-aa-455-8ca88d.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260810-Spencer-Deery-aa-455-8ca88d.jpg 1x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260810-Spencer-Deery-aa-455-8ca88d.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260810-Spencer-Deery-aa-455-8ca88d.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260810-Spencer-Deery-aa-455-8ca88d.jpg\" alt=\"Spencer Deery\" height=\"1467\" width=\"2200\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption styles_caption__TCewG\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption__container\" data-testid=\"caption__container\">Spencer Deery was one of the Republicans in the Indiana state Senate who opposed Trump&#8217;s redistricting plan. <\/span><span class=\"caption__source\" data-testid=\"caption__source\">Doug McSchooler \/ AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"anchor-c64144\" class=\"body-graf\">Copenhaver, an aide to Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1be021\" class=\"body-graf\">If her victory survives appeal, Copenhaver would be favored in the general election in the heavily Republican 23rd State Senate District. West Lafayette City Council member David Sanders, a Democrat, and independent Joshua Brant are also running. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-f6fefd\" class=\"body-graf\">The new state Senate could reconsider redistricting ahead of the 2028 election. Senate President Rod Bray, who also opposed the Trump-backed map, said last month that he would not seek another term as Republican leader.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-2d2f17\" class=\"body-graf\">Trump celebrated his announcement on Truth Social.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-82ec17\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">\u201cI want to thank the Great State of Indiana for your support, not only in my Presidential Election, which we won with the Highest Vote in the History of the State, but also for your support in getting rid of wayward Senators, led down the Path of Destruction by a FOOL named Rodric Bray,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/117015146759027639\" target=\"_blank\">he wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recount in a contested Indiana state Senate primary in May has put Republican Paula Copenhaver, who was backed by President Donald Trump, ahead of incumbent Spencer Deery. Deery was one of seven GOP members of the state Senate who faced primary challengers this spring after having voted down a redrawn congressional map that Trump&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260810--Indiana-state-Capitol-aa-454-d86f40.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}