MERRILLVILLE — Motorists traveling Broadway or U.S. 30 through Merrillville over the next few weeks are likely to spy billboards encouraging them to cast a Republican primary election ballot — even if they generally prefer the Democratic Party.
ReCenter Indiana, a bipartisan political action committee, is paying for the messages, along with similar billboards in Indianapolis and Evansville, in the hope of nudging Indiana's politics toward the middle of the spectrum, where it believes most Hoosiers are.
ReCenter Indiana President Don Knebel, of Carmel, said primary elections in the Hoosier State typically see participation only by the most committed partisans, and they tend to favor the most extreme candidates.
But he said when Indiana only has elected Republican governors for the past 20 years, even Hoosier Democrats have an interest in nominating a Republican candidate who closely represents their values, since the winner of the six-candidate GOP primary on May 7 is very likely to be the state's next chief executive.
Indiana's upcoming election is considered an "open" primary because the voter selects which political party's ballot to mark when he or she arrives at the polling place.
Hoosier voters do not register with a party in advance and can switch between parties at each primary election.
"Everyone's vote is secret. The law says so," Knebel said. "So ReCenter Indiana believes it would be inappropriate for a primary voter to be questioned about how he or she has voted in the past or may choose to vote in the future."
That's not entirely true, however. The political party selected by each voter at a primary election is a public record and voters hoping to run for office themselves someday must vote in consecutive primaries for the same party to automatically identify as a candidate for that party.
Nevertheless, Azher Khan, a ReCenter Indiana board member who identifies as a Republican, said this year's GOP primary election is so important every registered Hoosier voter should participate in it.
"Many of us don't see our values shared by the officials who purport to represent us," Khan said. "That's often because those officials can coast to victory once they've been nominated in the primary."
Linda Heitzman, a ReCenter Indiana board member who identifies as a Democrat, agreed.
"Most of us Hoosiers expect our public officials to work together for the common good. But some officials don’t need to — and may feel compelled not to — if their only real challenge is appealing to a narrow base of partisans in the primary," she said.
Early voting for the party primary elections began Tuesday and runs through May 6 at 11 locations in Lake County, 7 sites in Porter County, and 4 LaPorte County polling places.
Northwest Indiana 2024 primary election early voting sites, hours
Lake County Government Center, 2293 N. Main St., Crown Point
Judge Lorenzo Arredondo Justice Center, 3711 Main St., East Chicago
Gary Public Library, 220 W. 5th Ave., Gary
Lake County Courthouse, 232 Russell St., Hammond
Hobart Police and Community Center, 705 E. 4th St., Hobart
Lowell Town Hall, 501 E. Main St., Lowell
Munster Town Hall, 1005 Ridge Rd., Munster
Schererville Town Hall, 10 E. Joliet St., Schererville
St. John Township Assessor's Office, 9157 Wicker Ave., St. John
Wicker Park Breezeway, 8554 Indianapolis Blvd., Highland
Winfield Government Center, 10645 Randolph St., Winfield
Chesterton Town Hall, 790 Broadway, Chesterton
Hebron Community Center, 611 N. Main St., Hebron
NIRPC Building, 6100 Southport Rd., Portage
North Porter County Government Complex, 3560 Willowcreek Road, Portage
Porter County Administration Building, 155 Indiana Ave., Valparaiso
Union Township Fire Station #2, 267 N. 600 W., Valparaiso
Valparaiso Fire Training Center, 355 Evans Ave., Valparaiso
Brighton Street Building, 210 Brighton St., LaPorte
H.O.P.E. Community Center, 222 McClelland Ave., Michigan City
Wills Township Community Center, 6981 E. 350 N., Rolling Prairie
A billboard near U.S. 30 and Broadway in Merrillville encourages Hoosier Democrats to vote a Republican ballot at the May 7 primary election. The billboards are paid for by ReCenter Indiana, a bipartisan political action committee that hopes to see moderate Republicans nominated for Indiana governor and other key offices this year.