Jennifer McCormick, the Democratic nominee for governor, speaks at the Indiana Democratic Convention on July 13, 2024. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
The Democratic Governors Association is pumping $600,000 into the gubernatorial campaign of nominee Jennifer McCormick, Politico reported Friday — just as a second national political analyst tweaked forecasting for the three-way contest.
McCormick is running against Republican Mike Braun and Libertarian Donald Rainwater for Indiana’s open top seat. GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb is term-limited.
The move came after Braun released a negative ad against McCormick and had to change it twice — once to add a required disclaimer and another to remove digital alterations that were made to an image in the ad. Braun’s running mate, Micah Beckwith, also added to the week by calling McCormick a “Jezebel spirit” — a biblical phrase about wicked women.
McCormick “has a real path to victory,” said the association’s spokesman, Sam Newton.
She polled at 41%, compared to Braun’s 44% and Rainwater’s 8%, in an association-funded survey conducted September 19-22 and released last week. The poll of 600 likely voters has a 4% margin of error.
“… this investment will help allow the McCormick campaign to continue communicating — especially with voters who are just tuning in — about her commonsense vision to make life better for Hoosiers while holding Braun accountable for his support for the state’s extreme abortion ban,” Newton said.
Other polls, though, show Braun leading comfortably.
The Republican Governors Association gave Braun $250,000 on Monday, State Affairs Indiana reported. Two other GOP groups added nearly $200,000 more.
Inside Elections dropped the race’s rating from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican” last week. Sabato’s Crystal Ball, another nonpartisan race rater, followed on Friday.
Republicans are “clearly still favored but there’s been a lot of activity there (in Indiana) lately” that justifies the change, Crystal Ball Managing Editor Kyle Kondik wrote on X.
The candidates debated Wednesday and Thursday, with McCormick and Braun both claiming victory each night.
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