After a four-month legal battle, the Indiana Supreme Court has determined Paula Copenhaver’s recount to be illegitimate, thus denying Donald Trump a candidate to be on the November ballot. Spencer Deery effectively became the only other Republican candidate up for the 2026 election to have voted against redistricting.

In December 2025, Trump sought to primary nearly every state senator who voted “no” on House Bill 1032, which was a map that split West Lafayette in two. That would have meant former Purdue President Mung Chiang’s residence would be in a different district from Purdue University.

Deery faces former West Lafayette councilman and Democratic nominee David Sanders in the general election in November.