By Anna Cecil
TheStatehouseFile.com
May 6, 2026
During the 2024 primary election, less than $500,000 was spent on state Senate ad campaigns. This year, nearly $12 million was poured into advertising for these races, NBC reported Monday.
This spending was part of a push led by President Donald Trump to challenge incumbent senators who voted in December against a failed drive to redistrict Indiana’s Congressional map, in an effort to maintain GOP control at the national level.
Sen. Greg Goode, R-Vigo, was announced the winner of the District 38 primary race, just two hours after the polls closed. He faced Trump-endorsed Vigo County council member, Brenda Wilson and third candidate, Alexandra Wilson, who experienced a legal battle to stay in the race.
Sen. Spencer Deery, R-West Lafayette, led the District 23 race by just three votes as of 11 p.m. Tuesday. Deery has been an Indiana state senator since 2022. His seat is being challenged by Trump-endorsed Paula Copenhaver, government affairs director in Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s office and chair of the Fountain County Republican Party.
Contests from Districts 21, 41 and 19 were all called in favor of candidates backed by Trump early on in the night.
Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland, defeated incumbent Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, receiving nearly 60% of votes in the District 41 race. Walker voted against residistricting, fueling attacks against him during the primary campaign.
In ads, Walker was accused of being a “Republican in name only” (RINO), and according to NBC, his face was illustrated on a roll of toilet paper.
Davis received support during her campaign from U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Indiana Treasurer Daniel Elliott, Gov. Mike Braun and Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer who has become a national conservative activist.
In District 21, incumbent Sen. Jim Buck, R-Kokomo, who has held his seat since 1994, was defeated by opponent Tracy Powell, the Trump-backed candidate. She currently serves as the Tipton County commissioner.
This election was the first time Buck has ever faced a primary challenge during his over three decades-long career in the Indiana Senate.
The legislator faced a $1 million campaign against him, he told NPR. One ad called the Republican senator an “old, pathetic, liberal.”
The District 19 race went to , a Huntington County council member and businessman who was backed by Trump. He defeated Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, a longtime lawmaker who voted against the redistricting plan.
Holdman told the Indiana Capital Chronicle last month that he thought Trump-backed political action committees were “probably spending more money on me than anybody else to try to take me out.”
The Indiana Citizen reported in February that Holdman, who was named the 2025 Legislator of the Year by the Indiana Bankers Association, was called “Big Bank Travis,” by a PAC focused on attacking Republican candidates who did not vote for redistricting.
Near the nine o’clock hour, almost all Senate races were called in favor of Trump-endorsed candidates.
In District 11, Sen. Linda Rogers, R-Granger, lost to Brian Schmutzler, a physician, who framed his campaign around faith-based conservative principles, including opposition to government mandates and support for expanded school choice options such as homeschooling and microschools.
Rogers has served in the state Senate since 2018. Following the redistricting battle that caused her to lose her seat, she told WSBT in December ;“The majority of constituents in my district that reached out to me really were against redistricting. When I decided to run for Senate District 11, my goal was to be an advocate and serve the people of the community, and so I was following the wishes of my district today.”
Former state lawmaker and Trump-endorsed candidate Jeff Ellington won the District 39 contest against two other Republicans–Tanner Bouchie and Kristi Risk–none of whom currently hold Senate seats.
Risk serves as director of government affairs for Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith and is a former congressional chief of staff. Bouchie, a Vincennes attorney and first-time candidate, has framed his campaign as an alternative to career politicians.
n District 1, Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, who voted against the redistricting plan, lost the primary to Trump-backed Trevor De Vries, who works in transactional risk insurance and serves as a GOP precinct committeeman and third candidate, Nader Liddawi.
In exchange for his opposition to redistricting, Trump called Dernulc a “RINO” who “has failed the fantastic people of Indiana so badly.”
