It’s no surprise that Democrats are soul searching after Election Day. Indiana Democrats especially, facing what seems like insurmountable Republican dominance of the state.
Republicans are now entering with a trifecta on the national level and are re-entering trifecta with supermajorities in Indiana. Something needs to change if the party wants to become competitive. Local Democrats agree on that. They aren’t necessarily aligned on how.
Bucking the trend
Monroe County shifted less than a point to the right as President-elect Donald Trump expanded his margins in Indiana. Less people in the county voted this year than did in 2020, but turnout didn’t drop as much as it did in other Democratic strongholds — Marion County, Lake County and St. Joseph County.
David Henry, the chair of the Monroe County Democrats, said that represented the success of the county party. Monroe County holds nearly a third of Indiana’s county-level elected Democrats.
That doesn’t mean wins across the board. Democrat Thomas Horrocks lost against Republican Dave Hall in the extremely close race for State House District 62, which Henry said could have been due to the nationwide shift right. But he wouldn’t have done anything differently this campaign season.
Henry attributes the party’s general success to engagement with working class voters, a key group that swung to Trump this election. Monroe County Democrats, he said, got ahead of issues in the economy — highlighting the amount of people living under the poverty level and the number of children who qualify for free or reduced lunch while campaigning.
“Our party needs to really zero back in on being a party of the people and addressing those kitchen table issues,” Henry said. “Simply because the stock market is performing well, and the columnists in national newspapers insist that the economy is doing well, does not translate to the inflationary pressures that working families felt.”
Democrats are clamoring for change after wipeouts in statewide races. Some have called for state party chair Mike Schmul to resign. In March, the party will head into it’s regular reorganization it holds every four years.
“I don't think anyone in Indianapolis can hold their heads as high as we can here in Monroe County about the job that we did,” Henry said.
Caught up in culture wars?
Ann Delaney, chair of the state Democratic party from 1993-95, said the party desperately needs to rethink its direction.
A large part of that is culture wars, Delaney said, which saw the party caught on the wrong foot regarding illegal immigration.
She also said the Democrats should be against transgender women playing in women’s sports. The sentiment echoes a national conversation that Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton started, arguing that Democrats should roll back support on the issue.
“We get caught up in wanting to do the right thing,” Delaney said.
Not all Democrats agree. Henry said that the party should be able to do several things at once, including championing LGBTQ+ rights and civil rights alongside economic issues.
Still, Delaney said that focusing on social issues is bogging down Democrats’ message to the working class. That’s a major mistake that she said the state party has made: not focusing enough on issues like education and property taxes.
The same idea extends to national Democrats, Delaney said. When the state party is underwater due to a Republican tsunami as it was this year, there’s not much it can do.
“What we’re doing is not working”
It’s not impossible for Democrats to win Indiana. Barack Obama did in 2008. And John Gregg got closer than most, even as Donald Trump entered the picture.
Gregg jettisoned his state party career in a 50-50 split State House when he was elected speaker of the house. That was nearly 30 years ago when Indiana had a Democrat in the governor’s office.
Gregg ran for governor against Mike Pence in 2012, where he netted more total votes than Kamala Harris did in 2024 — in an election with far lower turnout. He lost by 3%. He ran again in 2016 against Eric Holcomb and lost by 6% as Trump swept Indiana by 19%. In that election, he got nearly 77,000 more votes than Harris did in 2024.
So, what changed, other than the obvious shifts in the national environment? Gregg said that he’s noticed a shift in messaging among Democrats. In his campaigns, he would never lead with social issues, instead preferring to talk economics and jobs.
He said he took this approach because “everyone has an opinion on social issues.” That means people’s minds are usually made up on issues like abortion or gun control. But Gregg said people are more flexible on economic issues. In a state as red as Indiana, that matters.
“What we’re doing is not working,” he said.
Part of the issue in state Democrat’s approach to winning the governor’s race or attorney general’s office was leading with these social issues, Gregg said. And that’s something he wants the party to reevaluate as it moves forward.
“The Democrats have long reached out and worked for marginalized people and groups,” he said. “But again, you've also got to have a message just beyond that, and that's what we failed to communicate.”
Gregg attributed those relative successes to a well-run campaign and solid messaging. That meant focusing on bringing in well-paying jobs, education and other kitchen table issues. Still, it wasn’t enough — he said his loss resulted from the national environment shift that Trump caused.
“You don't have to like him, but he’s a political phenomenon,” Gregg said. “I can't paint him as conservative. I can't paint him as liberal. He's just Donald Trump.”
Trump will, in theory, not be on the ballot in 2028. When he’s gone, it’s unclear what will happen to his coalition. And in Indiana, the Republican party will have led the state for two decades. Gregg said that presents an opportunity.
“You've had the ball for 20 years,” Gregg said. “How's come K-12 hasn't improved? How's come college isn't more affordable?”
“But we've not been asking those questions,” he added.
