In Too Close to Call Indiana State Senate Race,

As CrimsonState reported back in May, 5 of the Indiana state senators who opposed redistricting forward of the 2026 midterms misplaced their primaries to Trump-backed challengers. 

One of those races, for State Senate District 23, was too close to call, with only three votes separating Trump-endorsed challenger Paula Copenhaver from incumbent Spencer Deery, with Deery in the lead.

Copenhaver vowed to problem this end result, and her problem was favored by the Indiana Recount Commission.

Don’t let anybody inform you your vote would not depend. Paula Copenhaver seems to have reversed Sen. Spencer Deery’s three vote lead after a recount and was licensed the winner.

Votes for Deery, notably, have been thrown out largely because of election official errors (lacking…

— Jacob Stewart (@jstewartIndy) August 10, 2026

Don’t let anybody inform you your vote would not depend. Paula Copenhaver seems to have reversed Sen. Spencer Deery’s three vote lead after a recount and was licensed the winner. 

Votes for Deery, notably, have been thrown out largely because of election official errors (lacking stamps, and so forth.) NOT because of social media posts of voters.

An incumbent state senator misplaced his race after a high-stakes recount threw out a number of ballots, main his Trump-backed challenger to declare victory.

The three-person commission, which incorporates Republican Secretary of State Diego Morales, licensed that Paula Copenhaver received the first by three votes, defeating state Sen. Spencer Deery.

After the May 5 main, Deery narrowly received by three votes. However, 4 months later, the opposing marketing campaign of Paula Copenhaver was profitable in rejecting eight votes solid for Deery, largely due to lacking initials and stamps. Copenhaver also misplaced two counted votes.

Copenhaver, who was one of a number of candidates pitted against sitting senators as half of Trump’s redistricting-fueled retribution, has argued that the ballots of left-leaning voters who crossed over to vote for her opponent and talked about it on social media needs to be invalidated. However, that argument was unsuccessful. Instead, Deery misplaced votes on other grounds.

According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, on Monday, 10 votes have been thrown out by the Commission over minor errors. Eight of those votes have been for Deery, and two have been for Copenhaver, which gave her a three-vote edge. The new licensed vote totals from the May main give Copenhaver 6,332 votes to Deery’s 6,329.

The three-member Recount Commission was divided 2-1 on tossing out seven of the eight votes that Deery misplaced, with the other one determined unanimously. The choices on eradicating the 2 Copenhaver votes have been unanimous.

THREE votes. This is why people must vote.

Deery is decrying the Commission’s determination, alleging the desire of the voters has been overturned. Deery plans to problem the Recount Commission end result in appellate court.

Today, we noticed members of the Indiana Recount Commission attempt to undermine the desire of voters by treating ballots otherwise based on whether or not they furthered the president’s political objectives. This was not a assembly meant to discover equity; it was designed to discover votes.…

— Spencer Deery (@SpencerDeery) August 10, 2026

Today, we noticed members of the Indiana Recount Commission attempt to undermine the desire of voters by treating ballots otherwise based on whether or not they furthered the president’s political objectives. This was not a assembly meant to discover equity; it was designed to discover votes. Indiana law makes clear that legitimate votes shouldn’t be silenced merely because of minor errors made by clerks — clerks who have been supposed to be skilled by the chairman of this very commission.

Fortunately, this commission doesn’t get the last phrase. We are assured Indiana’s appellate courts will restore the vote totals that have been counted and recounted, and reaffirm me as the selection voters made for the Republican nomination in Senate District 23.

Copenhaver is supremely assured that this victory will face up to a court problem.

“I think there was a mandate throughout the whole state regarding the redistricting, and what I have found is that a lot of people are afraid to vocalize their position,” Copenhaver said. “They don’t speak up for fear of retribution. I’m not afraid.”

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will decide the destiny of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must keep control of both chambers of Congress.

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