Dozens of candidates who applied for Democratic Party positions have been removed from the May primary ballot.
Over the course of a 4-hour hearing last week, the Marion County Election Board upheld about 80 challenges submitted by Myla Eldridge, chair of the Marion County Democratic Party.
The candidates had filed paperwork to become state convention delegates or precinct committee chairs, often called PCs for short, both of which are party positions.
Many of the candidates, some of whom worked for Democratic politicians or remained active in party politics for decades, unsuccessfully appealed their cases to the election board.
Some submitted letters of support from Democratic organizations and receipts of donations they’ve sent to Democratic candidates. Many were lifelong Democrats who voted in the 2024 GOP primary to have a voice in the governor’s race. Others reached out to Eldridge ahead of filing to try and get certified that they were a Democrat, but say they never heard a response.
None of it was enough. All of them were rejected.
“It’s really breaking my heart, and I’m just really sad,” said Mike Oles, a party activist who helped hundreds of people file for party positions. “This is not based on rulemaking. This is based on conceit.”
Almost all of the candidates were disqualified because they violated an Indiana Democratic Party rule: Candidates must have voted Democrat in the last primary election in which they pulled a ballot.
“The rules are the rules,” Eldridge said at the Feb. 20 election board meeting. “I don’t bend the rules and I don’t break the rules.”
The rules do say the county party chair can make exceptions. And some well-known Democrats were denied exceptions, including Phil Bremen, the former press secretary for Democratic Gov. Frank O’Bannon.
“I’ve consistently voted in Democratic primaries,” Bremen told the election board. “I made an exception in 2024. I did not want to see our state move backward, so I voted for the least extreme Republican candidate. I voted in good conscience and in good faith as a good citizen and as a responsible Democrat.”
The party in-fighting comes as Indiana Democrats hope to make gains in a state that has been under Republican control for more than a decade.
Even though the candidates can no longer be an elected precinct committee person or state convention delegate, Eldridge can appoint them to the position. But she can remove appointments at any time.
‘Discouraging and frustrating’
Many candidates pointed out that Eldridge can choose to certify any candidate as a Democrat, regardless of their voting history. Eldridge previously told Mirror Indy that her intention was to “apply eligibility requirements consistently and fairly.”
Gabrielle Alford, president of the Marion County Young Democrats, was among those challenged by Eldridge.
“It’s discouraging and frustrating,” Alford told Mirror Indy. “You’re trying to be a grassroots organizer, and you’re being told that you need not apply.”
Alford was rejected because she hasn’t voted in a primary election, though she’s voted for Democrats in general elections. A West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran, she was stationed in South Korea in May 2024, and primary elections weren’t on her mind.
Megan Alderman, secretary for Progressive Democrats of America, pulled a Republican ballot in the primary but has otherwise only voted for Democrats. She did so as part of an organized effort, led by a group called ReCenter Indiana, that encouraged Democrats to vote in the 2024 GOP primary for a more moderate Republican candidate for governor.
In her defense, Alderman said that she was told by Wes Brown, vice chair of the county party, that Democrats wouldn’t be challenged for pulling a Republican ballot in the 2024 primary election.
Brown, a past president of the Marion County Young Democrats, told Mirror Indy that’s not exactly what he said.
“I said, ‘I don’t see us challenging PCs or state (convention) delegates,’” Brown recalled. “I didn’t know that we were planning to challenge anyone that was running (unopposed).”
At a meeting of the Washington Township Democratic Club last week, Brown apologized to candidates who felt they were misled.
Brown told Mirror Indy he’s encouraging candidates who were challenged to reach out to Eldridge to try and get appointed.
“I don’t want to cause too much rift with the party, but I will say I am disappointed how the entire situation happened, and I want to make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” Brown said. “I’m currently trying to work on ways that we can make this a better process for next time.”
A different approach
The election board said its decision to uphold the challenges was based on Indiana Democratic Party rules.
“What we have to go on is this rule, and it is very explicit,” said Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell, a Democrat who serves on the three-member bipartisan election board. “Our counsel has advised us that we have to follow this rule.”
Not all county parties are rejecting candidates for their voting history.
Josh Lowry, chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, didn’t challenge any candidates for PC or state convention delegate. He also signed waivers for Democrats who voted Republican in the 2024 primary.
But he also didn’t disagree with Eldridge’s approach. He noted that Hamilton County doesn’t have as much Democratic support as Marion County.
“We have been a historically red county up until just recently, when it’s turned purple,” said Lowry, “so even our Democrats had some history of voting in Republican primaries, especially in municipal (elections).”
Part of the problem, he said, is education. When you register to vote in Indiana, you don’t register with a party. But county party chairs can check your voting record to see how you voted in primary elections.
“I don’t think most people know that the primary voting record is effectively their party registration,” he said.
Alford, the leader of the Marion County Young Democrats, isn’t letting any of this discourage her from getting involved in politics.
“This is a bump in the road, and if anything, it should fuel more frustration into energy, into getting the right people elected,” Alford said. “There are plenty of good Democrats to get behind, and the situation is too dire right now to let this turn people away from getting involved in the 2026 midterms.”
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
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