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President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a series of endorsements in Indiana state legislative primaries, supporting Republican challengers seeking to unseat GOP senators who opposed his effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of the midterms.
In posts on Truth Social, Trump endorsed Blake Fiechter, Tracey Powell, Paula Copenhaver, Brenda Wilson, Michelle Davis and Jeff Ellington in their campaigns against state Sens. Travis Holdman, Jim Buck, Spencer Deery, Greg Goode, Greg Walker and Eric Bassler.
“It is my Great Honor to endorse America First Patriot, Jeff Ellington, a terrific Candidate for Indiana’s 39th State Senate District (which I won by a whopping 55 points!). Jeff will be a fantastic replacement for RINO Eric Bassler, who may not even run again because Republicans are so angry with him over his betrayal he committed when he, for whatever reason, voted against Redistricting in Indiana, which essentially made him a partner to the Radical Left Democrats in their quest to take control of the United States House of Representatives, and reverse the great progress we have made in the last year,” the president wrote in one of the posts.
“Bassler and his RINO friends made Indiana, a State I love that is full of Patriots who love America, the only State in the Nation that would rather turn over our Country to Democrats than fight back against their corruption, and finish the job we started over 10 years ago. We could have easily picked up two seats in Indiana, but Bassler, an America Last politician, was played for a fool by the Democrats who want to destroy our Country,” President Trump added.
The targeted senators were among Republicans who resisted Trump’s push, backed by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, to revise congressional district lines, a move the president argued would strengthen the GOP’s position in November. Some conservative groups have also pledged to support primary challenges against them.
Fiechter serves as a local city councilman, while Powell and Wilson are county commissioners. Copenhaver is a local GOP chair. Davis is a sitting state representative running for a state Senate seat, and Ellington is a county Republican chairman.
President Trump also signaled that Bassler may not seek reelection and said he has aligned with state leadership behind a potential replacement, Kristi Risk, whom he called a pawn in his criticism of party insiders.
