Delaware Co. Republicans say party leaders unfairly redistributed convention delegates
MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — When Ryan Webb looked at the distribution of convention delegates in Delaware County, he noticed something he thought was odd.
The first-term Delaware County Council member had just lost the race to be one of Delaware County’s 28 delegates to the state Republican Party convention, scheduled for June 18. Webb compared the candidate list for this spring’s primary with the one from two years ago. In 2020, the candidates had been distributed more or less evenly among three districts and an at-large district. This year, the at-large district was gone. In districts 2 and 3, five seats each were available to fields of 19 and 16 candidates, respectively. District 1, on the other hand, had 18 seats available but only 10 candidates.
“When you stack all of the delegates into one district, it’s really frustrating,” Webb said.
Under party rules, county party chair Victor Whitehead was able to appoint eight delegates to fill the remaining seats in district 1. Those delegates will vote on the party’s nominees for secretary of state, state treasurer and state auditor at the convention.
State party officials confirmed to News 8 the county party chairs have the authority to unilaterally redistribute delegates and fill vacancies. Webb said the system discourages outsiders from running because it rigs the system in favor of whoever local bosses like best.
Troy Ingram agrees. A member of the Muncie City Council, Ingram also ran unsuccessfully for delegate. He said he’s not upset that he lost but he is upset by the feeling that he wasn’t able to run in a fair election.
“It’s basically making a mockery of our electoral process,” Ingram said. “(Whitehead) is arranging it so that he gets to put those people in office, not the people.”
News 8 left multiple voicemails for Whitehead over several days. He did not return any calls, nor did he respond to an email inquiry.
With the primary over, both Webb and Ingram said they plan to focus on their current elected offices for now. Ingram said he plans to draft a letter to state party leadership outlining his objections to the delegate apportionment process. Webb said he will continue to encourage outsiders to run for office in order to change the system.
“These changes don’t happen unless we, as citizens, decide to get involved and put our names on the ballot,” Webb said. “That takes a lot of courage because you put yourself under a lot of scrutny, but I promise you it’s worth it.”
Convention delegates in Indiana only affect the selection of nominees for statewide office. Voters chose party nominees for county offices and for state and federal legislative seats during the primary.