President Donald Trump is trying to influence Indiana GOP primary voters by endorsing state lawmakers who opposed the redrawing of the state’s congressional map last year to favor Republicans.
Calling incumbent Sen. Dan Dernulc, of Highland, a “RINO loser,” Trump threw his support behind newcomer Trevor De Vries, of St. John, in a Tuesday social media post.
Dernulc led the Lake County Republican Party as its chairman for 10 years.
De Vries, a businessman, also has the support of Turning Point Action, Club for Growth, Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith and Attorney General Todd Rokita.
Tuesday also marked the first day of early voting in the May 5 contest.
On Dec. 11, Dernulc joined 21 GOP senators and 10 Democrats in the 31-19 vote to defeat the redistricting bill, backed earlier by House members, 57-41.
Locally, Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, and Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michigan City, also opposed the redistricting bill.
Only Dernulc, campaigning for a second term, and Niemeyer, eyeing a fourth term, are seeking re-election this year.
Trump has endorsed the opponents of seven of eight GOP senators who opposed redistricting and are running for re-election this year. He hasn’t backed a candidate in the 6th Senate district where Niemeyer faces MAGA challenger James “Jay” Starkey, of DeMotte.
Rick Niemeyer declined comment on Trump’s endorsements Friday but said he has picked up endorsements from the Northwestern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council, the Indiana Farm Bureau, Northwest Indiana Realtors Association and the Indiana Professional Firefighters.
Starkey has the backing of Beckwith and Rokita and is featured in an upcoming primary tour sponsored by Turning Point Action.
Dernulc didn’t respond for comment regarding Trump’s endorsement.
Lake County Republican chairman Randy Niemeyer also didn’t respond, but he told the Indiana Capital Chronicle earlier this week that he wouldn’t get involved in contested primaries.
Like others, Dernulc and Rick Niemeyer were the target of swatting last year before the redistricting vote.
“It is scary and shocking to me that someone would go so far to try to cause harm or fear to me or my family,” Dernulc said in a statement last year after the incident.
“It is sad … that I am villainized in some minds to the point of harmful retaliation. Threats to public officials cannot and should not be the norm. I hope to see justice for this illegal behavior.”
So far, no arrests have been made in the incidents.
“Revenge politics,” led by Trump has fractured the state’s GOP, and brought cash-fueled, out-of-state campaigns against incumbents who didn’t back redistricting.
Gov. Mike Braun and U.S. Sen. Jim Banks also took sides with Trump, pledging to funnel money to challengers running against incumbents who opposed redistricting,
Braun’s HOPE Super PAC is expected to spend $500,000 in the primary.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
