Democrats select Terry Goodin, Destiny Wells for November ballot

Indiana Democrats formally nominated former state Rep. Terry Goodin and Destiny Wells, alongside their gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick, to take on Indiana Republicans in November's election.

After a contested Indiana Democratic Party convention on Saturday attended by nearly 2,000 people from across the state, Goodin easily secured his party’s nomination to be McCormick’s lieutenant governor candidate, with 1,209 votes. No other lieutenant governor candidate got more than 175 votes. Micah Beckwith is Goodin's Republican counterpart.

"Just getting along is not good enough for a great state like Indiana," Goodin said. "Indiana can do better, folks." 

It was a much tighter race between Wells and Beth White, who were vying for Democrats' nomination for attorney general to take on incumbent Todd Rokita. Wells clinched 1,057 votes to secure the Democratic attorney general nomination, besting White who received 475 votes from delegates.

"It is my honor to continue this journey to the AG's office," Wells said after the votes came in. "It’s up to each of us now."

Wells said she would "sprint" from tomorrow through November in trying to appeal to a bipartisan group of voters.

"Go split your ticket," Wells said after her victory.

More:Dems want to beat Todd Rokita in November. Will a contested AG race hurt their chances?

Voting kicked off around 5 p.m. at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis and lasted more than two hours.

Results weren’t tallied until after 7:30 p.m. Delegates were still voting when news came out that former President Donald Trump was rushed off stage at his rally in Pennsylvania, with blood dripping from his ear in what is being investigated as an assassination attempt. Convention chair Robin Winston called for delegates to stay in line and said “violence has no place in American politics.”

“This is wrong,” Winston said. “That’s not how we do elections. We are not a third-world country.”

More:Donald Trump rushed from stage at rally, appeared to be injured and have blood on his face

While the lieutenant governor’s race was technically contested, it was clear before the convention started that Goodin had the overwhelming support he needed to clinch the official nomination. Also running for the lieutenant governor spot were Bob Kern, Clif Marsiglio and Tamie Dixon-Tatum.

State Sen. J.D. Ford gave a speech to officially nominate Goodin as the lieutenant governor, a signal to delegates that the party had unified behind McCormick’s choice, despite that Goodin previously has caught flak from Ford and other Democrats about his past votes against LGBTQ+ rights and abortion. Ford was the first openly LGBTQ+ member elected to the Indiana General Assembly.

Ford said Goodin has made “assurances that he will be a force for progress and justice.”

“I know Dr. Goodin is up to doing this job,” Ford said. “I have spoken to him personally. I mean the actual job, and not the dangerous fantasy land that Micah Beckwith lives in.”

The attorney general’s race was the real fight Saturday.

Before the vote, White said she was “cautiously optimistic” about her chances of being selected. In a speech to the Indiana African American Caucus, people chanted her name after her short speech; meanwhile, Wells received more measured applause from that group.

“I called every delegate individually,” White said. “Personal interaction makes a difference. Now it’s up to them.”

Wells’ camp, meanwhile, cast the attorney general’s race as a race between the past and the future of the Democratic party.

Two of the Indiana Democratic Party’s rising stars, state Sen. Andrea Hunley of Indianapolis and Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun, nominated Wells and spoke on her behalf.

“Both of our candidates are incredible strong women,” Hunley said. “It’s not about … who we like more. It’s about so much more than that. Today is about our shared vision, our shared strategic vision for the future of the Indiana Democratic Party.”

Meanwhile, former state lawmaker Vi Simpson, who served in the Statehouse from 1984 to 2012, and third-term Boonville Mayor Charlie Wyatt, nominated White.

”It’s time to chase this MAGA-loving ambulance chaser out of that office,” Simpson said, referring to Rokita. “I think I know just the person to do the job. … Because she will lead with integrity and fairness and use her years of experience to restore trust in that office.”

After Wells was selected as the Democrats' nominee, Rokita adviser Brent Littlefield sent a statement by calling her a "cheerlead(er) for the Biden-Harris agenda."

"Destiny Wells was rejected by the voters of Indiana less than 24 months ago due to her radical and extreme views," Littlefield said in a statement.

More:For Indiana Democrats these days, every year is a rebuilding year

State Democratic Party Chairman Mike Schmuhl called for Democrats to come together after the convention to defeat what he described as the “MAGA starting lineup” in November.

“We need to stop them,” Schmuhl said. “I think we can do it if we work together. You can only go so far to the right before you start to crack from within. … Let’s be unified behind our full ticket, OK? Let’s take the fight to the Republicans.”

However, Schmuhl alluded to the hard path ahead of them. Democrats have not won a statewide race since 2012 and there’s disagreement with some in the party about the path to start winning again.

“I know it’s not easy sometimes to be a Democrat in our state, but I am fully, fully in the belief that our brightest days are still ahead,” Schmuhl said.