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Marliss Desens's avatar

Any and all! In 2024, Indiana did have strong candidates for governor in Jennifer McCormick and for attorney general in Destiny Wells. Both started early and garnered about 40% of the vote. We did not have strong Senate candidates in the primary, and thus not in that year's general election. Indiana's 2nd Congressional District did draw Lori Camp, who entered the race before the deadline before the primary because she was so frustrated that no candidate had emerged. She ran a determined campaign. There was no Democratic candidate in our state representative race. Many local races have people pulled in, like sacrificial lambs, to run AFTER the primary. That does not make for strong campaigns.

Part of what is needed is candidates who either are well known or can become well known. In red Indiana, that probably means running more than once after losing and continuing to speak publicly after the election to lay the groundwork for the next campaign.

Democratic candidates in Indiana need to reach out to the 60% of voting eligible people in Indiana who do not vote at all. Indiana Democrats also tend to focus on those who are already Democrats instead of seeking to expand the party. One of McCormick's strengths is that she was a Republican who, upon seeing how poorly Republicans were running the state and examining her own values, realized that the Democrats were more aligned with her views on fiscal responsibility and education.

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