U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for a state visit to Britain, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., September 16, 2025. REUTERS Kevin Lamarque
The IndyStar reports Indiana’s high-populated Marion County appears to be topping recent primaries as President Donald Trump made moves to remove Republican incumbents who bucked him on a recent push for a mid-decade gerrymander.
“Even though a few Marion County residents may still be waiting in line to cast their votes, voter turnout is trending toward 15 percent, Dan Goldblatt, communications director for the Marion County Clerk’s Office, said shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday,” said IndyStar reporter Katie Wiseman.
While that number might seem low, Wiseman reports Indianapolis' primary elections only see 7-8 percent voter turnout, according to Goldblatt.
“[The year] 2026 has already seen a higher voter turnout than the presidential primary election in 2024, which was 13.55 percent and the last primary midterm election in 2022 which saw only 10.78 percent voter turnout according to Marion County voter data,” wrote Wiseman.
The New York Times reports that voters in deep-red Indiana went to the polls today to cast ballots in the state’s primary elections — which rarely receive attention outside the Midwest. But this year, President Trump changed that.
“The president is seeking to oust seven Republican state senators whom he deems insufficiently loyal,” reports the Times. “They had helped defeat a redistricting effort that could have boosted the party’s chances of maintaining control of the U.S. House, so Trump found seven challengers to endorse instead.”
It did not appear to matter that many of the candidates “in the president’s cross hairs are staunch conservatives with long track records,” the Times added.
The night’s results, reports said the Times, “will serve as a test of Trump’s ability to bend the Republican Party’s rank-and-file to his will.”
But once Indiana is done, Trump is not, adds the Times. In the coming weeks, the president also hopes to oust more well-known Republicans in Louisiana and Kentucky.
However voters decide, IndyStar reports Trump has riled them in either one direction or the other.