The Indiana Election Commission deadlocked Wednesday on whether Republican Alexandra Wilson can remain in the primary race against Sen. Greg Goode (R-Terre Haute).
The challenge is part of a broader Republican effort to unseat Goode, who drew President Donald Trump's ire earlier this year after rejecting the president's call for Indiana lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional maps mid-decade.
Alexandra Wilson is one of two candidates with the last name Wilson challenging Goode for the Republican nomination. Supporters of the Trump-backed candidate, Brenda Wilson, worry that another candidate on the ballot with the last name Wilson is going to confuse voters.
James Bopp is the attorney representing the challenge against her candidacy. Bopp, who has long supported conservative causes, repeatedly called Alexandra Wilson a “phony” candidate without offering evidence.
“This ploy has been repeatedly used in Democrat primaries to confuse voters,” he said. “This is a standard ploy by the Democrat party, which is now, I guess, because they support Greg Goode, is now infecting our primary.”
Alexandra Wilson was narrowly approved to appear on the ballot by the Indiana Election Commission earlier this year, with the four-member commission splitting the vote along party lines on the issue. At issue was whether a 2010 criminal charge disqualified from the ballot.
At 19, Wilson was charged with resisting arrest by vehicle, Wilson’s attorney said, which means she did not immediately pull over for officers.
A felony conviction would keep Wilson off the ballot, but her attorney said she ultimately pled that charge down to a misdemeanor.
Bopp filed a court challenge in Clay County Circuit Court to block Alexandra Wilson from the ballot after the Election Commission first deadlocked on the issue.
After that, Alexandra Wilson had her record expunged.
That ultimately led a judge to send the question of her candidacy back before the Indiana Election Commission.
In front of the commission, Bopp argued that allowing the expungement to clear candidates for the ballot would have consequences.
“Then we have legalized felons running for office and assuming office,” he said.
The Election Commission’s democratic members expressed concern that Bopp continued to bring up the now-expunged conviction.
Election commission member Karen Celestino-Horseman asked Bopp to be “cautious” ahead of his testimony.
“I will give you fair warning that any discussion of any fact relating to that underlying conviction… is forbidden by the sealing of this record and is not appropriate to bring up in a public hearing like this,” she said.
Alexandra Wilson’s attorney, Samantha DeWester, expressed similar frustrations with Bopp’s repeated assertions of a felony conviction.
“She was never convicted. He knows that, we know that,” she said. “Everyone in the world knows that and continuing to use that is intentional defamation per se.”
The four-member state Election Commission again split on party lines whether to consider the question of Alexandra Wilson’s eligibility. The tie vote means that Alexandra Wilson can remain on the ballot.
Bopp said he plans to keep the issue moving through the courts until Election Day.
DeWester called Bopp’s efforts “garbage.”
“He isn't going to stop. He wants his way and won't be told no and hates losing,” she said. “He is only doing this in an attempt to get her off the ballot and target Greg Goode. So, lots of money pouring in to pay him to continue filing nonsense.”
Indiana’s primary election day is May 5th.
Contact Government Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org
