Here's what you may not know about Tuesday's voting in Vanderburgh County
EVANSVILLE − No, the returns aren't official yet. Vote totals may change slightly when the Vanderburgh County Election Board meets May 17 to certify the results of Republican and Democratic primary elections held Tuesday.
But everyone knows by now who won the big races.
Here's what they may not know.
How the presidential primaries unfolded in Vanderburgh County
Mirroring a trend in Republican presidential primaries elsewhere, a segment of voters casting ballots in Vanderburgh County's GOP primary refused to fall in line behind former President Donald Trump, the party's presumptive presidential nominee this year.
Slightly more than 2,900 people who voted in the Republican primary — 23% of the total — cast their ballots for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the race in March.
But that doesn't necessarily mean a significant chunk of Republican voters in Vanderburgh County aren't supporting Trump.
Ina recap of Indiana primary results published the day after last week's election, Cook Political Report analyst Erin Covey said many of Haley's voters in GOP primaries may not be actual Republicans.
"As we’ve seen in earlier primaries, Haley’s strongest margins have come in urban, suburban and college towns — areas chock full of white, college-educated voters who dislike Donald Trump," Covey wrote. "However, Indiana is an open primary state, meaning that many of these voters are not GOP defectors, but are already firmly in the Biden camp."
Democratic President Joe Biden didn't get all of his party's votes either in Vanderburgh County, even though he had no challenger on the ballot.
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Locally, 3,813 voters cast ballots in the Democratic primary. Biden got 3,506 votes, meaning 305 Democratic voters left the presidential ballot blank. Biden's supporters could argue the 305 voters didn't go for him because he already has his party's nomination. A total of 12,859 people voted in Vanderburgh County's Republican primary, but 383 of them made no choice between Trump and Haley.
Indiana GOP governor primary in Vanderburgh County
In the race for the GOP's gubernatorial nomination, won statewide by U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, it was instead Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch who won Vanderburgh County. And decisively, too. Crouch, a Vanderburgh County resident and former local elected official here, nearly won a majority of local votes cast in a six-candidate race. Her closest competitor was Braun, who got 35% of the Vanderburgh County vote.
Democratic voters in Vanderburgh County had just one candidate to choose from in the gubernatorial race, former Indiana superintendent of public instruction Jennifer McCormick.
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How the 8th District congressional primaries turned out in Vanderburgh County
In the race to succeed retiring Republican U.S. Congressman Larry Bucshon in the 8th District, the two major parties' overall winners in the 21-county congressional district also won Vanderburgh County. Democrat Erik Hurt, an Evansville resident and manager of the city's AMC movie theater, won Vanderburgh with 45% of the vote in a four-candidate race.
In an eight-candidate field for the GOP's congressional nomination, State Sen. Mark Messmer (R-Jasper) won a plurality in Vanderburgh County of 34%. His closest competitor was former 8th District Congressman John Hostettler, who won 31%.
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U.S. Senate voting in Vanderburgh County
Republican 3rd District Congressman Jim Banks is unopposed for his party's nomination to the U.S. Senate seat that Braun currently holds, but Vanderburgh County Democratic voters had a contest for their party's nomination. They went with Indianapolis psychologist Valerie McCray over former state Rep. Marc Carmichael by a 69-31% margin. McCray won the Senate nomination statewide.
So how much turnout did each party get in Vanderburgh County?
Most of the action in the primary in Vanderburgh County was on the Republican side, although the collection of contests also reflected the GOP's dominance in countywide, state and federal elections.
The 12,859 voters who cast ballots in the Republican primary was more than three times the 3,813 who participated in the Democratic primary, which did offer contested primaries for U.S. Senate and House seats.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Here's what you may not know about Tuesday's voting in Vanderburgh County
