This Libertarian had a record-setting 2020 election. He's on the ballot again this year.
The Libertarian Party of Indiana has selected its nominees for key races on the ballot in the 2024 general election this November.
The party gained ballot access this election by getting at least 2% of the votes in the race for Indiana secretary of state in 2022, per state law. Libertarian Jeff Maurer received about 5.7% of the vote in an election ultimately won by Diego Morales.
The party nominated these candidates at its annual convention held over the weekend in Fishers.
Donald Rainwater on the issues: Indiana governor candidate Q&A
The governor's race
For the second time, Donald Rainwater, a software engineer and Navy veteran from Johnson County, will run for governor.
During his bid for governor in 2020, he capitalized on anti-government-shutdown rhetoric in the wake of COVID-19, and with some success: He earned 11.4% of the vote, a record-high percentage for the Indiana Libertarian party in a three-way race for a statewide office.
This year, he's competing for attention among a historically crowded field of contenders. Six people are running for the Republican nomination. Former schools superintendent Jennifer McCormick is the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Tonya Hudson, of Lawrence County, a longtime member of the Libertarian State Central Committee, is running for lieutenant governor as Rainwater's running mate.
U.S. Senate
Andrew Horning has appeared at the top of the Libertarian party's ballot multiple times. This time, as in 2012, it's for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Mike Braun.
Horning earned 5.7% of the vote in the 2012 election, the party's second-highest percentage for a three-way statewide race in Indiana. (In 2006, when Steve Osborn earned 12.6% of the vote as a Libertarian against Richard Lugar, there was no Democrat in the race.)
The Owen County resident has also previously run for governor in 2000 and 2008, and multiple times for the U.S. House.
Also on the ballot for U.S. Senate will be U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, the presumptive Republican nominee, and the winner of the Democratic primary, which has two candidates: former state Rep. Marc Carmichael and Indianapolis psychologist Valerie McCray.
U.S. House
These Libertarian candidates will appear on the ballot in various U.S. House races:
District 2: William Henry of Elkhart County
District 3: Jarrad Lancaster of Whitley County
District 6: James Sceniak of Johnson County
District 7: Russel "Rusty" Johnson of Marion County
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 2024 election: These Libertarians will be on Indiana's ballot
