The votes are in and Indiana State Senator Spencer Deery (R-West Lafayette) wins the extremely close race for District 23 by three ballots.
Challenger Paula Copenhaver or a party chair may call for a recount, those deadlines are next week.
Deery responded to the result of the count and thanked all of his supporters, volunteers and voters.
“Campaigns are hard, and primaries can be especially difficult. But now is the time to begin healing and to move forward together,” Deery wrote. “Too many Hoosier families are hurting. They feel it at the gas pump, in their property taxes, medical bills, the cost of childcare, and in the struggles facing rural towns and schools across our district.”
Copenhaver did not immediately return a request for comment from WFYI Friday afternoon.
Tippecanoe County was the last to count provisional ballots this week. Two ballots that were previously reported on by Tippecanoe County that could have impacted the Senate District 23 race were deemed to be disqualified.
The county election board considered over 30 ballots during Friday’s meeting, some were mail-in absentees and others were provisional ballots cast on election day. Among those were the two ballots that were eventually disqualified either over a discrepancy in signatures or problems with the voter’s registration, according to Tippecanoe County Clerk Julie Roush.
Three other Indiana counties audited provisional ballots this week. Wednesday, Parke County’s election board verified one provisional ballot for the race and found it to be a vote for Deery. That gave Deery a three-vote lead in the race against Copenhaver.
The high profile race for Deery’s seat became heated after the incumbent senator rejected President Donald Trump’s mid-decade redistricting push late last year. Of the seven Senate Republicans who were primaried this year, Deery and Senator Greg Goode were the only incumbents to win their seats.
Other provisional ballots cast in Fountain and Montgomery Counties were counted earlier this week. May 15th was the day that counties had to certify their primary election results.
There are no automatic recounts in Indiana and they are only initiated when a candidate or a party chair officially requests it. The recount for a state legislative race is then conducted by a state recount commission under a court-supervised procedure.
Even though no official recount has been called yet, the Indiana Recount Commission is still preparing itself for the work. At a meeting Friday the commission appointed a recount director. Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales also attended the meeting and said he plans to remain the chairman of the commission.
Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) said on Wednesday that he believes Morales should recuse himself from the commission due to his involvement with Turning Point USA, which endorsed Copenhaver in the race. Morales was also a strong supporter of approving redistricting.
If a candidate or a party chair calls for a recount of a race, then the official deadline for finalizing election results would be delayed until the recount is finished.
Contact Government Reporter Caroline Beck at cbeck@wfyi.org
