Field of Evansville mayor candidates down two after election board action

EVANSVILLE — The field of candidates for mayor of Evansville thinned Tuesday from five to three after the Vanderburgh County Election Board removed Democrat Brian Alexander and Republican Caine Helmer from the May 2 primary ballot.

It took 35 minutes of parsing through lawyerly arguments about case precedent and legislative history for the board to decide that neither man qualifies under Indiana's "two-primaries" law. The statute says a candidate is eligible to run for elected office under a party's banner, if, among other things, "the two (2) most recent primary elections in Indiana in which the candidate voted were primary elections held by the party with which the candidate claims affiliation."

To GOP Chairman Mike Duckworth and Democratic Chair Cheryl Schultz, who sought to disqualify Helmer and Alexander, respectively, that was clear. Helmer, a 26-year-old front-end worker at Target, hasn't voted in any party primaries at all. Alexander, a 31-year-old advertising planner for Spectrum Reach, had voted in just one primary election.

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But board attorney Doug Briody zeroed in on the phrase, "in which the candidate voted." Briody argued the two-primaries statute, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, doesn't explicitly state a requirement for a candidate's primary voting history. That leaves the matter unclear, he said.

"The statute doesn't say, if you have not voted in at least two primary elections in Indiana, you can't run as a candidate of that party," the board attorney said. "It just means, if you voted in the Republican primary one year and the Democratic the next, then you're disqualified in the party for either — unless you get the party chair's approval."

Primary elections, typically held in May in Indiana, are held to nominate candidates to represent parties in November general elections. Neither Helmer nor Alexander attended Tuesday's election board meeting.

Election board member David Shaw, an attorney and a Democrat, offered the hypothetical of a party activist from another state moving to Indiana. The individual could vote in a party primary and a general election while working actively in the party — but it could take four years to build a history of voting in two primaries, Shaw said.

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"And then after they've been in town for over three years, have been active in party politics, they decide that they want to run in the (party) primary and challenge an incumbent, who happens to be a good buddy of the party chairman. And the chairman says, 'No, I'm not going to certify you,'" said Shaw, who voted against disqualifying the candidates.

"Under the interpretation being proposed by the county (Republican and Democratic) chairmen, that person could not run in the primary."

But attorney Chad Sullivan, who represented the GOP in its challenge to Helmer, pointed out that in a hearing of the Indiana Election Commission a year ago, party chairs used the two-primaries law to remove several candidates across the state from the 2022 primary ballot. The party chairs and the election commission accepted the same interpretation of the statute that Duckworth relies upon to remove Helmer, Sullivan said.

Case law and legislative history make it clear that "the proper interpretation is, the person has to vote twice in that party's primaries," Sullivan said. Those votes need not have come in consecutive election years, he said. They could have been cast in 2000 and 1950.

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There may still be more candidates for mayor

Advocates of the two-primaries law point to the statute's provision for ineligible candidates to appeal to their party chairmen for the required waiver. It's a good option, they say, for candidates who are too new to Indiana or too young to have built a voting history in the state.

Previously, a candidate needed to show only that his or her most recent primary election vote was cast within the party — one vote instead of two.

Two-primaries advocates say the change was intended to ensure that someone seeking to run under a party's banner really is a member of that party.

"The purpose of changing it from one to two primaries was not to make it easier to run in the party primaries," Sullivan said. "It was meant to increase the level that someone has to prove before they're granted automatic access to a party's primary."

The vote to approve Democratic chair Schultz's removal of Alexander came by a 2-1 margin, with Republican election board members Carla Hayden and Joe Harrison Jr., voting yes and Democrat Shaw voting no. The vote was the same to uphold Duckworth's challenge to Helmer, who has voted in no primaries. Sullivan said Helmer's signed declaration of candidacy checked a box saying he had certification from Duckworth — and he didn't.

Tuesday's decision leaves the Republican primary with two candidates for mayor: Cheryl Musgrave and Natalie Rascher. On the Democratic side, Stephanie Terry will be unopposed.

But there may be more candidates before Evansville voters choose a new mayor to succeed 12-year incumbent Lloyd Winnecke on Nov. 7.

The Libertarian Party, which has until July 3 by law to select a candidate in a convention, intends to select Michael Daugherty, who has filed a Statement of Organization for his candidacy. Helmer has said he would run as an independent if disqualified.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Field of Evansville mayor candidates down two after election board action