The Lincoln Party is on the ballot. The Libertarian Party may not be.
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Nathan Gotsch, chair of Indiana's Lincoln Party.
A new party, the Lincoln Party, will be on Hoosier ballots for the next four years.
Why it matters: The Lincoln Party says it will offer "high quality" independent candidates a path — and the support — to win.
Driving the news: The Lincoln Party's first candidate, former Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard, received 3.6% of the vote in the secretary of state race — above the 2% threshold required to receive automatic ballot access.
- That was the new party's first goal: do well enough to receive ballot access, lowering the barrier to entry for a future slate of independent candidates.
- The next goal, says Nathan Gotsch, state chair of the Lincoln Party, is to start winning.
What they're saying: "The Lincoln Party is really about three things: fighting corruption, restoring accountability and listening to voters," Gotsch said.
State of play: Gotsch said he's been hearing from folks around the state about potential candidates, but there's one race they're already watching — next year's Indianapolis mayoral contest.
- "If Joe Hogsett decides to run for mayor again and wins the Democratic primary, we are going to find somebody to run in that race and make sure that the general election voters of Indianapolis decide who the next mayor is, not the primary voters," Gotsch said.
- Candidates will be nominated through party convention, but Gotsch said the party is still working to determine the process for people who want to run under the Lincoln Party label.
- "It's really important that our candidates are viable, that they're really high quality and that we have the resources to support them," Gotsch said. "So, in these first few cycles, we're going to be really careful and cautious about the races that we get in."
The other side: The Lincoln Party's success may have come at a cost to the Libertarian Party, whose secretary of state candidate, Lauri Shillings, is sitting just below the required 2% with more than 95% of the vote counted.
- If she doesn't hit 2%, the party will lose the access it's had since 1994.
- "Our ballot access race faced new challenges due to the four-way contest," Stephanie Dasbach, chair of the Libertarian Party of Indiana, told Axios in a statement. "Our candidate, Lauri Shillings, traversed the state, met with thousands of voters, and represented the Libertarian Party well. I believe we'll meet the threshold, but we do have our work cut out for us moving forward."
What's next: Gotsch said the Lincoln Party will connect with Hoosiers over the coming months to get their input on the party's nominating process.