By Bill Moreau, publisher
The Indiana Citizen
October 28, 2026
We’re all guilty of focusing too much on the present, particularly in an election year. Every election seems like it’s the meanest, the ads are the most vicious, the candidates are the most unhinged, the divisions in our country have never seemed deeper.
Every election seems like “the most important election in US history.”
Insofar as midterm elections go, history might well record 2026 as a watershed year.
Yes, the control of Congress might change–the House, almost certainly–as it often does in the midterms. But there’s a stormcloud rolling across the country that might make the 2026 elections historic for a different reason.
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced they are dispatching 1000 election observers–apparently the largest number ever–to all 50 states to monitor Election Day voting. Only two of Indiana’s 92 counties will receive federal observers, Lake and Marion. This isn’t a random draw by the Trump administration. Those two counties include almost 45% of all Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino Hoosiers and 30% of the votes cast for Democratic statewide candidates in the last midterm, 2022.
Think how the outcomes of the statewide races, the First and Seventh U.S. House districts and several Indiana House and Senate districts could be thrown into doubt by a federal challenge to the legitimacy of the results in Lake and Marion counties. Now, extend this possibility to the remaining 49 states.
If you think this scenario is fear-mongering on my part, I invite you to read this excellent analysis from Reuters.
They interviewed more than 50 election officials, voting experts and election lawyers. One of the findings:
With a court-approved warrant or a subpoena, federal agents could seize or demand ballots, voting machines or election records, potentially disrupting vote counts, breaking the chain of custody of election materials, and delaying certification.
Here’s my fervent hope: When we awaken on November 4, rational Americans will have no reason to doubt the legitimacy of the elections and the final results, so those elected can begin preparing for the hard part, governing us.
Here in Indiana, the ads dominating our TVs are telling us we have an unprecedented number of candidates who are corrupt, crooks or outright criminals. Who knew there were so many miscreants standing for election? It’s the time of year when you hear candidates say, “I went home today, opened the door and my own dog bit me!”
We’ve all been reading about the “Blue tsunami” or its alternative, the “Red undertow.” With our polls closing at 6 p.m. EST (yes, we fall back on Sunday), the national networks might be watching Indiana for an early indication of a “wave election.”
Hoosier Democrats are optimistic about winning the Secretary of State election and ending the Republican supermajorities in the state House and Senate. If Hoosier Republicans maintain control of that statewide office and their General Assembly supermajorities, it will confirm Indiana’s status as a “ruby red” state. The next question is whether the General Assembly again takes up gerrymandering our nine congressional districts with the goal of carving up the First and Seventh districts to ensure a 9-0 delegation.
Just how partisan will Indiana’s school boards be?
It will be interesting to see whether the General Assembly spends some time analyzing the results of Indiana’s first-time-in-history partisan school board elections. As we have reported, the majority of school board candidates abjured running as partisans and chose the option of running as an Independent or with no party affiliation. That’s some very good news; most Hoosier school board candidates do not see themselves as partisans, because their communities don’t want them to be.
But here’s a very interesting story from our partners at Free Press Indiana about the school board elections in Goshen, a community where the two major parties have gone all-in on electing partisans.
We’ve devoted an enormous amount of time and resources trying to fulfill Lt. Gov. Beckwith’s goal of figuring out what a school board candidate stands for by delivering our questionnaire and linking their response to their candidate profile. We haven’t had much luck, because most school board candidates haven’t told their voters how to contact them. Here’s a modest proposal for any legislator or the new Secretary of State: Require all candidates for office to include a contact email address when they file their statement of candidacy.
And here’s a prediction: Some legislator will introduce–and LG Beckwith will support–a bill that will require school board candidates to run as either an R or D and be nominated through party primaries in May. If that happens, let’s hope such a bad idea causes the General Assembly to return to non-partisan school board elections.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Indiana Citizen or any other affiliated organization.
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about this commentary, contact Bill Moreau at bill.moreau@indianacitizen.org
