How can Democrats win Indiana?

[John Forbes Kerrygold 🧈]

I've lived in Illinois for a while, but grew up in Indiana, where many of my friends and family still live. Most of them are reliable Democratic voters, but live in a state where a Democratic candidate has not won statewide in almost a decade.

Joe Donnelly was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012, in what I would call a fluke. Legendary incumbent Richard Lugar had been primaried out by Richard Mourdock, whose candidacy imploded during the general election after making comments about sexual assault (he was the Todd Akin of the Hoosier state, essentially). Donnelly got absolutely trounced in 2018. We haven't had a Democratic governor since 2005. The last few gubernatorial candidates (Jill Long Thompson, John Gregg, Woody Myers) haven't stood a chance. Myers got a historically low percentage of the vote in 2020.

As the state gets redder and redder, I'm wondering what needs to be done to make the Democratic Party in Indiana relevant again. The party doesn't have much of a bench. Any thoughts on this? What kind of candidate can win here?

[VAR]

Welcome to the forum!

It probably gets worse for Dems because the rural/working-class areas aren’t maxed out for the GOP yet. Sure, the Indianapolis suburbs are very promising in terms of its swing/trend but not populous enough to make much of a difference.

IN GOP will probably shore up Victoria Spartz and nuke Mrvan’s district, so yeah, I don’t see their bench improving either.

[Greedo punched first]

Welcome to the forum!

It probably gets worse for Dems because the rural/working-class areas aren’t maxed out for the GOP yet. Sure, the Indianapolis suburbs are very promising in terms of its swing/trend but not populous enough to make much of a difference.

IN GOP will probably shore up Victoria Spartz and nuke Mrvan’s district, so yeah, I don’t see their bench improving either.

And possibly Carson's district.

[Left Wing]

Welcome to the forum!

It probably gets worse for Dems because the rural/working-class areas aren’t maxed out for the GOP yet. Sure, the Indianapolis suburbs are very promising in terms of its swing/trend but not populous enough to make much of a difference.

IN GOP will probably shore up Victoria Spartz and nuke Mrvan’s district, so yeah, I don’t see their bench improving either.

And possibly Carson's district.

That would be a massive dummymander.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Welcome to the forum!

It probably gets worse for Dems because the rural/working-class areas aren’t maxed out for the GOP yet. Sure, the Indianapolis suburbs are very promising in terms of its swing/trend but not populous enough to make much of a difference.

IN GOP will probably shore up Victoria Spartz and nuke Mrvan’s district, so yeah, I don’t see their bench improving either.

And possibly Carson's district.

That would be a massive dummymander.

[Xing]

Short answer: They can’t, at least not for a while.

[neostassenite31]

Welcome to the forum!

It probably gets worse for Dems because the rural/working-class areas aren’t maxed out for the GOP yet. Sure, the Indianapolis suburbs are very promising in terms of its swing/trend but not populous enough to make much of a difference.

IN GOP will probably shore up Victoria Spartz and nuke Mrvan’s district, so yeah, I don’t see their bench improving either.

And possibly Carson's district.

That would be a massive dummymander.

A really effective computer-drawn map could make all of Indiana's congressional districts have close to the same partisan breakdown as the state at-large (which would be around R+16),. This is definitively possible at least on paper. The existing map would have to be teared down entirely and GOP vote sinks like the 3rd, 4th, and 6th CDs would have to be redrawn to redistribute R voters much more efficiently

Doing so might be illegal though, but I am not entirely sure because not even Marion or Lake County has a minority population over 50%

[StateBoiler]

https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=435618
I started a thread elsewhere breaking down the state from the more urban to the more rural.
They have to do significantly better in medium to small-sized cities and rural areas than they are.

[pbrower2a]

When Indiana becomes more attractive to high-tech industries that require well-educated people. Indiana is arguably as Rust Belt as Michigan or Ohio.  The difference between both is that Indiana is more rural. Let Fort Wayne or Indianapolis become another Research Triangle and Indiana goes very Blue (Atlas Red) very fast. 

That 80% of North Carolina voters strongly disapprove of political violence such as that that transpired on January 6 may make some Congressional office-holders vulnerable. The violence comes with much symbolism involving former President Trump. Sure, that's North Carolina and not Indiana but except on some sports rivalry if something is extremely in contempt in North Carolina it is in extreme contempt just about anywhere -- whether Massachusetts or Wyoming.

[Oregon Eagle Politics]

They can do better in Suburban Indianapolis, although not enough to win.

[sting in the rafters]

Stop caring about abortion, the LGBTQ community, or gun control. Of course only the 3rd is either politically and morally palatable.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

They wont

[DS0816]

I've lived in Illinois for a while, but grew up in Indiana, where many of my friends and family still live. Most of them are reliable Democratic voters, but live in a state where a Democratic candidate has not won statewide in almost a decade.

It is corporatism.

The Democrats being corporatists isn’t persuasive to win over a state already aligned to the Republicans; they can keep voting for what feels familiar from that political party.

There is no reason why the Democrats should be able to win over and carry Indiana.

[StateBoiler]

When Indiana becomes more attractive to high-tech industries that require well-educated people.

I am a mechanical engineer on NASA weather satellites. Thanks go out to Philo T. Farnsworth.

[SnowLabrador]

Stop caring about abortion, the LGBTQ community, or gun control. Of course only the 3rd is either politically and morally palatable.

Gun control is extremely popular, but it's also a moral imperative.

[sting in the rafters]

Stop caring about abortion, the LGBTQ community, or gun control. Of course only the 3rd is either politically and morally palatable.

Gun control is extremely popular, but it's also a moral imperative.

At least their you can say “it’s in our Constitution”, the former 2 are just human rights violations.

[Frenchrepublican]

Welcome to the forum!

It probably gets worse for Dems because the rural/working-class areas aren’t maxed out for the GOP yet. Sure, the Indianapolis suburbs are very promising in terms of its swing/trend but not populous enough to make much of a difference.

IN GOP will probably shore up Victoria Spartz and nuke Mrvan’s district, so yeah, I don’t see their bench improving either.

Yeah, northwestern Indiana could become a big problem for democrats as they still have a lot of ground to lose in these areas.

[juulze68]

Wait for the Republicans to mess up.

Honestly, that is the best answer to all these types of questions.

[Nightcore Nationalist]

"How can Republicans win Connecticut/New Jersey?"

[Real Texan Politics]

Besides summoning Evan Bayh from retirement (honestly surprised he's only 65, thought he would've been like in his mid 70s), I don't think democrats have a very serious chance.

[Roll Roons]

Besides summoning Evan Bayh from retirement (honestly surprised he's only 65, thought he would've been like in his mid 70s), I don't think democrats have a very serious chance.

They tried that and it didn't work out so well.

[Real Texan Politics]

Besides summoning Evan Bayh from retirement (honestly surprised he's only 65, thought he would've been like in his mid 70s), I don't think democrats have a very serious chance.

Well, they tried that and it didn't work out so well.

Oh yea true, and it's not the 2000s anymore when people voted based on ideology rather than party. Also when the south was mostly ran by democrats on the state and local levels (and sometimes the senate as well). What a time that was!

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

go back to 2008.