Three-Vote Recount Boots Another Indiana Republican Who Defied Trump
A recount decided by just three votes turned a closely watched Indiana GOP primary on its head Monday, ousting another Republican lawmaker who bucked President Donald Trump’s redistricting push and handing the president another victory in his campaign against GOP dissenters.
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The Indiana Recount Commission certified Trump-endorsed challenger Paula Copenhaver as the winner over Republican state Sen. Spencer Deery by just three votes, 6,332 to 6,329, bringing Trump’s campaign against Indiana Republicans who rebelled against his redistricting push to the brink of a clean sweep.
Eight votes originally credited to Deery were tossed over “clerical errors” by election officials, according to local outlet FOX59.
Copenhaver’s victory means six of the seven Indiana Republican senators targeted by Trump over their opposition to his redistricting push have now lost their primaries.
“Today, we saw members of the Indiana Election Commission attempt to undermine the will of voters by treating ballots differently based on whether they furthered the president’s political goals,” Deery said, vowing to appeal the recount to a higher court. “This was not a meeting intended to find fairness; it was designed to find votes.”
It’s a stunning turnaround from the May primary, when Deery initially finished just three votes ahead of Copenhaver, 6,337 to 6,334.
The recount result comes less than two weeks after Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray announced he would not seek another term as the chamber’s leader. Bray’s office cited threats to recruit and fund primary challengers against senators who supported him for leadership.
Trump celebrated the announcement: “I am pleased to announce that the man who so foolishly led the Indiana State Senate, with almost every Candidate losing their Race, many of them in Office for years, will not be seeking Re-Election as Senate President because he wouldn’t have had a chance to be elected — Better yet would be if he would resign from Office, completely, but he will be met by us at the Indiana Polls,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
In December 2025, the Indiana Senate voted 31-19 to reject a mid-decade congressional redistricting plan, defying intense pressure from Trump and Republican Gov. Mike Braun. Twenty-one Republicans joined all 10 Democrats to defeat the Trump-backed map.
Shortly afterward, Trump vowed political retaliation, endorsing primary challengers against the state lawmakers, many of whom were longtime incumbents.
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I am just an average American. My teen years were in the late 70s and I participated in all that that decade offered. Started working young, too young. Then I joined the Army before I graduated High School. I spent 25 years in, mostly in Infantry units. Since then I've worked in information technology positions all at small family owned companies. At this rate I'll never be a tech millionaire. When I was young I rode horses as much as I could. I do believe I should have been a cowboy. I'm getting in the saddle again by taking riding lessons and see where it goes.
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