Free Republic

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger became the latest enemy of President Donald Trump’s to lose a Republican primary on Tuesday. Billionaire Rick Jackson and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones advanced to a runoff election for the GOP nomination for Georgia governor — locking out Raffensperger, who rose to prominence defending Georgia’s 2020 election results but struggled to gain traction among his party’s increasingly MAGA base. Raffensperger’s defeat is another sign of Trump’s grip on the GOP, following the president’s wins ousting state Republican senators who clashed with him over redistricting in Indiana and Sen. Bill Cassidy’s loss in Louisiana on...

Federal authorities charged more than 25 alleged members and associates of Tren de Aragua (TdA), seizing more than 80 firearms, roughly 18 kilograms of drugs and more than $100,000 in cash as part of a sweeping crackdown on the violent transnational gang. President Donald Trump has helped unleash the full power of federal authorities by designating TdA a foreign terrorist organization last year. Now, more than 260 members and associates of TdA have been charged. "This FBI and our interagency partners continue to break violent gang networks all over America, and today’s massive takedown of 25 Tren de Aragua members...

A mother in Indiana faces 18 years behind bars after allegedly leaving her three children and dogs home alone to fester in deplorable conditions. Ashley Rogers, 42, was arrested on three counts of neglect of a dependent after officers searched her home and found her three children and dogs had been living in squalor. Fort Wayne Police officers arrived to Rogers home at around 12.20pm on April 30 following reports of a minor threatening to harm themselves and discovered the property covered in black mold, animal feces and filled with piles of trash. ogers's boyfriend, Antione Burnett, was at the...

Indiana state Sen. Greg Walker (R) stood by his decision to oppose a state-level redistricting plan backed by President Trump last year, even though it likely cost him his job. “I do not,” Walker said during an appearance on NBC News’s “Meet the Press Now,” after host Kristen Welker asked whether he regretted voting against drawing new congressional lines. “I made the right choice.” He was soundly defeated by challenger Michelle Davis in the GOP primary for Indiana’s state Senate District 41, losing the seat he held for two decades by 17.5 points. Walker told NBC that he was “surprised”...

President Trump proved to be a kingmaker in the Indiana and Ohio Republican primaries Tuesday night, where his seal of approval propelled several GOP candidates to landslide victories. In Indiana, Trump’s revenge campaign against incumbent state senators who torpedoed his push last year to redraw the Hoosier state’s congressional boundaries was largely successful – with the president’s preferred candidates winning five of six contests. A potential sixth victory for a Trump-endorsed candidate was still too close to call late Tuesday. “Everyone in Indiana politics should have learned an important lesson today: President Trump is the single most popular Republican among...

President Trump promised political payback last year when Indiana state senators from his own party voted down his plan to redraw the state’s congressional map to help Republicans. On Tuesday, he got much of what he wanted, as at least five of the seven anti-redistricting Republicans facing Trump-backed challengers lost their primaries, according to The Associated Press. The results reflected Mr. Trump’s continuing sway over Republican voters and his ability to enforce political consequences for Republican officeholders who defy him. In the other races, at least one incumbent won his primary and another race remained too close to call. State...

It's primary day in Republican-dominated Indiana, where President Donald Trump’s immense sway over the GOP is on the line, as his endorsements in key races will be tested. In neighboring Ohio, another right-leaning state, some of Tuesday's top primaries will tee up crucial general election showdowns in November’s midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending their slim Senate and razor-thin House majorities. Two congressional incumbents in Indiana — Republican Rep. Jim Baird and Democratic Rep. Andre Carson — face serious primary challenges. And in Ohio, Republicans will pick from a crowded primary field in the race to face off with...

President Donald Trump’s revenge tour to unseat Indiana Republicans who snubbed his push to redraw the state’s congressional districts could come to fruition on Tuesday during the state’s primary elections. The Hoosier State will see 10 state Senate seats on the ballot in Tuesday’s election, with eight state Republicans who voted against gerrymandering the state map seeking reelection. rump has issued endorsements in seven of the eight races, with only state Sen. Rick Niemeyer escaping the president’s retribution effort, where he has followed through with endorsing incumbents’ primary challengers. Dubbing them “Republicans in Name Only,” Trump endorsed against state Sens....

A man who is running for Indiana Senate District 31 in the upcoming primary is facing charges after police allegedly found cocaine in his car in Fishers. Andrew Dezelan, 39, was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine and resisting law enforcement. The Fishers Police Department said officers responded to a person that was soliciting a neighborhood in the 13000 block of Ravenswood Trail, near East 136th Street and Atlantic Road in Fishers, around 8 p.m. on Sunday, April 26. Police said they found Dezelan in his vehicle at the neighborhood's clubhouse. When the responding officer asked Dezelan why he...

Nine people were wounded in a mass shooting near the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington early Sunday morning. Gunfire erupted as crowds of revelers were celebrating the famed “Little 500” college cycling race on the popular strip of Kirkwood Avenue just after midnight, WTHR reported. Police responded to the 400 block of East Kirkwood – a block from Indiana University – where they found “multiple wounded individuals.” Nine people were taken to local hospitals, including six by ambulance, as of 3 a.m., the outlet reported. Officials did not give their conditions or types of injuries. Witnesses said a fight...

CLOVERDALE, Ind. (WISH) — Police arrested a 27-year-old man from California in Putnam County Monday morning after police found 392 pounds of cocaine in his trailer. Indiana State Police say a trooper conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle that was speeding eastbound on I-70 near Cloverdale. During the stop the trooper “observed multiple criminal indicators” from the driver, Harmandeep Singh.

TULSA, Okla. — Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg drew a packed crowd Saturday, April 18, at Will Rogers High School for a town hall focused on key issues ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. A full gymnasium welcomed Buttigieg as he took the stage, with attendees filling the space to hear and take part in the discussion. The event was part of a broader series of stops as he continues engaging with communities ahead of November, following a fundraiser for the Kansas Democratic Party in Wichita. Tulsa mayor Monroe Nichols joined Buttigieg at the event after extending an invitation earlier...

INDIANAPOLIS — The man who raped, stabbed and murdered a 19-year-old Indianapolis woman over 30 years ago will now spend nearly 50 years behind bars. Dana Shepherd, 53, was sentenced on Friday to 45 years in prison. Van Huss was raped and stabbed 61 times by a man who broke into her studio apartment. After first being discovered by her father, police said they found her nude body lying in a large pool of blood. “We hope after all this time people understand how violent my sister’s murder was,” Jimmy Van Huss said in 2024. “She was raped and stabbed...

A judge and his wife were shot and wounded on Sunday in their home in Lafayette, Indiana, officials said. Tippecanoe Superior Court 2 Judge Steven Meyer and his wife, Kimberly, were shot at their home, and the shooter was "purportedly still at large" as of Monday, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush said in a statement. Lafayette Police said they responded to the home on Mill Pond Lane on Sunday afternoon and found the two victims, who received medical treatment and are in stable condition. Police said Steven Meyer suffered an injury to his arm and Kimberly Meyer...

Vice President of the United States JD Vance took aim at Indiana State Senator Rodric Bray in a post on X Saturday afternoon. The post pertained to the Virginia State Senate’s decision to advance a proposed constitutional amendment to redraw the state’s congressional maps. According to the Associated Press, the Virginia State Senate skews more Democratic than Republican. “I’d like to thank (Bray) for not even trying to fight back against this extraordinary Democrat abuse of power,” Vance wrote in his post. “Now the votes of Indiana Republicans will matter far less than the votes of Virginia Democrats. We told...

How Chicago ended up governed by people unfit to govern anything Chicago’s governance failures are usually described as ideological in nature. We are told the city is run by people with unsound ideas — progressive excess, hostility to policing, disdain for markets, and a fondness for socialist abstractions. That diagnosis is not wrong. It is merely incomplete. Ideology does not arise spontaneously. The more revealing question is how a city repeatedly elevates people who hold such demonstrably false views of the world—and why those views are held with such confidence even as reality refutes them. The uncomfortable answer is that...

ANDERSON —One suspect is in the hospital, and three others are in custody after police say a home invasion led to a shooting in Anderson on Sunday. According to the Anderson Police Department, officers responded to 712 Lonsvale Drive around 12:44 p.m. on January 4 for a reported shooting. According to investigators, four suspects kicked in the rear door of the residence and forced their way inside. During the break-in, one of the occupants inside the home shot and wounded one of the intruders. The suspects fled the scene immediately after the shooting. Anderson Police later located and arrested three...

An Indiana state senator sparked an uproar online after posting AI-generated images of himself clobbering Santa Claus in front of cheering fans on Christmas day — then mocked outraged critics as “snowflakes.” Sen. Chris Garten, a two-term Republican, shared four faux photos to his official X page of him in a sleeveless suit pummeling, kicking, and body slamming a terrified St. Nick in a crazed beatdown on the steps of the Indiana State Capitol as onlookers celebrated and waved “Garten for Indiana” signs. Another snap shows the Senate Majority Floor Leader riding a reindeer in a bare-armed Santa outfit and...

The nearly two dozen Indiana Republicans who voted against the president’s redistricting plan Thursday are in political jeopardy as Trump allies rally together to take them out. Republicans’ bid to redraw district lines ahead of the 2026 midterms failed after 21 state senators broke with their party and voted with the Democrats to strike the effort down 19-31. Trump claimed on Thursday that he “wasn’t working on it very hard” on the plan, though some have reported the president was making last minute calls to whip votes in favor of the new map. Major GOP organizations like Turning Point USA...

The Indiana Senate on Thursday voted down a plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts to produce two more GOP-friendly seats, rejecting President Donald Trump’s months-long campaign to pressure the Republican supermajority in the deep-red state to bend to his will. The 31-19 vote saw 21 Republicans join 10 Democrats in voting down the proposed map that would have positioned the GOP, which currently holds seven of Indiana’s nine US House seats, for a sweep of all nine seats in next year’s midterm elections. The vote comes with significant ramifications for the 2026 midterm elections as some Democratic- and Republican-led...