Ind. voters could play major role in election

Indiana’s primary election might not be until May 8, but Hoosier voters could decide the Republican nominee for president.

As the battle for the GOP nomination continues between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, it becomes more and more likely that Indiana will play a major role in choosing who takes the stage in Tampa, Fla. at the Republican National Convention this summer.

“Gov. Romney has shown strength in the Northeast and in the far west, but in the industrial heartland like Indiana, we don’t know,” said Leslie Lenkowsky, a clinical professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. “By May, it could play an important role. We just don’t know that.”

Indiana Republicans say the late primary date actually makes the Indiana primary vital in choosing the next president.

“Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina help to whittle down the field, but we could potentially crown the nominee,” said Pete Seat, communications director for the Indiana Republican Party. “The longer this stretches out, the more realistic
that looks.”

Beyond the primary, Indiana will also play a major role in the general election.
Indiana’s electoral votes went for the Democrats in 2008 for the first time in decades. President Barack Obama will hope to re-inspire Hoosier voters, while Republicans are anxious to win the state back.

“It definitely could happen again,” Lenkowsky said. “There’s no reason President Obama in his re-election campaign won’t have a similar strategy.”

Presidential candidates are expected to spend a fair amount of time in the Hoosier state leading up to election day because of Indiana’s role as a battleground state, Seat said.

Many of the Midwest states are considered swing states and garner attention from national candidates.

“Because we are in the Midwest, the road to the White House goes right through the heartland,” Seat said.

The GOP primary race for a U.S. Senate seat is also hotly contested. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., is being challenged in the primary by State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, a Tea Party conservative.

Lenkowsky pointed to Christine O’Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada as Tea Party members who won the primary against strong Republican candidates but lost in the general election to Democratic challengers.

If Mourdock were to win the primary, a lot of national attention would be directed toward the outcome of the Indiana senate race this fall, Lenkowsky said.

“When you get around to November, there’ll be a lot of Senate seats up, and the Republicans could win back the Senate,” Lenkowsky said.

Even though Indiana historically has been a red state, Lenkowsky said all you have to do is look at the history of elected officials to see the pattern of split congressional delegations and split state legislatures to see the democratic presence here.

“It is very possible for Democrats to win in the state,” Lenkowsky said.