{"id":624496,"date":"2026-05-05T08:07:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T08:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/624496\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T08:07:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T08:07:20","slug":"trumps-indiana-revenge-tour-sparks-an-ad-avalanche-from-the-politics-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/624496\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s Indiana revenge tour sparks an ad avalanche: From the Politics Desk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to From the Politics Desk<\/a>, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team\u2019s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

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In today\u2019s edition, Jane C. Timm takes stock of the massive sums of money flowing into Indiana\u2019s state Senate primaries. Plus, Natasha Korecki digs into the early jockeying for the progressive mantle in the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries. <\/p>\n

Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Adam Wollner<\/p>\n

Trump’s Indiana revenge tour sparks an ad spending avalancheBy Jane C. Timm<\/p>\n

Indiana airwaves have been inundated with nearly $12 million in spending heading into tomorrow\u2019s primary, according to AdImpact, transforming a series of typically sleepy state legislative contests into some of the most heated elections of the cycle. <\/p>\n

The major escalation is the result of President Donald Trump endorsing GOP primary challengers to seven incumbent state senators who voted last year against a redistricting plan he lobbied for. Across the entire 2024 election cycle, less than $500,000 was spent on Indiana state Senate ads.<\/p>\n

Four times that amount has been spent in just one race this year on an effort to unseat state Sen. Spencer Deery, who faces a challenge from Paula Copenhaver, an aide to Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith. <\/p>\n

The ads across the seven primaries have been remarkably acrimonious. State Sen. Jim Buck, who has served in the state legislature since 1994, is called \u201cold, pathetic, liberal,\u201d in one ad<\/a> from Hoosier Leadership for America, which is aligned with U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind. Buck, 80, is facing his first primary since joining the state Senate in 2008, against Tipton County Commissioner Tracey Powell. <\/p>\n

The ads targeting the state senators rarely lead with their vote against the redrawn congressional map that sparked the primary challenges in the first place. For example, Hoosier Leadership PAC has attacked the seven incumbents over a bill related to foreign ownership of farmland. <\/p>\n

\u201cSoft on skin, soft on bottoms,\u201d one ad begins<\/a>, showing a bunny and a roll of toilet paper. Then, the tone shifts and state Sen. Greg Walker\u2019s face appears on a roll of toilet paper. \u201cSoft on China,\u201d the ad continues. \u201cState Sen. Greg Walker betrayed Hoosiers by voting to let Chem China own Hoosier farmland, putting us at risk.\u201d <\/p>\n

In fact, Walker and every other member of the state Senate voted to ban certain \u201cforeign adversaries,\u201d including China, from buying farmland. This line of attack misconstrues the vote to seemingly argue that the ban didn\u2019t go far enough. <\/p>\n

The bulk of the spending in these contests has come from outside groups aligned with Trump\u2019s candidates. Hoosier Leadership for America has spent nearly $5 million on ads, while another Banks-linked group, American Leadership PAC, has spent more than $3 million. (Both groups are overseen by<\/a> Andrew Surabian, a top adviser to Donald Trump Jr. and Vice President JD Vance.) <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the seven incumbents facing Trump-endorsed challengers have collectively spent more than $2.6 million on ads as they try to keep their part-time jobs \u2014 which come with a base salary of just over $33,000 a year. <\/p>\n

Ben Kamisar and Bridget Bowman contributed. <\/p>\n

Who will own the Bernie Sanders lane in 2028?By Natasha Korecki<\/p>\n

The massive grassroots movement that twice rallied behind a Bernie Sanders presidential bid is facing its most consequential question yet: Who will emerge as its next leader?<\/p>\n

With the race for the White House still two years away, fierce behind-the-scenes competition is already underway for the voters, operatives and organizational muscle that powered Sanders\u2019 insurgent campaigns. The outcome may well determine whether the hard left can mount a serious challenge for the Democratic nomination or whether the progressive lane fractures before the race even begins.<\/p>\n

Interviews with more than a dozen major liberal groups, progressive activists, operatives and elected officials reveal that many in the most liberal faction of the party are not yet sold on one person; they\u2019re open to a number of candidates, including those who are not perfectly aligned with litmus test principles of the past.<\/p>\n

To many, the Sanders mantle is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s for the taking, should she want it. But others say the New York progressive wouldn\u2019t be the inevitable heir, arguing that Rep. Ro Khanna of California also has Bernie-like bona fides, and several other candidates have potential.<\/p>\n

Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, the organization founded by Sanders, said the group\u2019s 8 million members have \u201can open mind\u201d on whom they\u2019d like to see run for president in 2028, particularly after watching someone like newly minted New York City Zohran Mamdani emerge from nowhere and become a national sensation. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the field is written. There\u2019s always somebody who\u2019s surprising. They can step in and really scramble the field,\u201d he said. \u201cAOC, Ro Khanna, potentially others would have an advantage given they\u2019ve been leading on issues that are important to the base.\u201d <\/p>\n

Like Sanders, AOC is a singular figure in American politics, a force capable of drawing enormous, energetic crowds. Her superpower is small-dollar fundraising, which could catapult her to the top of the pile in any electoral contest. She has through-the-roof name recognition and consistently polls in the top five among Democratic leaders potentially seeking the White House. Ocasio-Cortez has not decided whether to run for Senate or mount a presidential bid, but she has not ruled anything out, according to a source with knowledge of her thinking. <\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\uddde\ufe0f Today’s other top stories\u27a1\ufe0f Iran war: Iran has fired cruise missiles and drones, and has launched small boats to target U.S.-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but no vessels have been hit and no one was injured, according to the commander of U.S. Central Command. Read more \u2192<\/a>\u2696\ufe0f SCOTUS watch: The Supreme Court provisionally blocked a lower court decision that would have limited availability nationwide of the abortion pill mifepristone. Read more \u2192<\/a> \ud83c\udf34 California dreamin\u2019: Despite their skepticism of billionaires, progressives say they are backing Tom Steyer in the California governor\u2019s race because of his policy platform \u2014 and a lack of other compelling options. Read more \u2192<\/a>\ud83d\udee4\ufe0f On the trail: Attendees at the Maine Democratic Party convention over the weekend were relieved to focus on the general election of the Senate race after Gov. Janet Mills dropped out, clearing the way for Graham Platner. But some had mixed feelings about their prospects against GOP Sen. Susan Collins. Read more \u2192<\/a>\ud83d\udc51 The kingmaker: Trump moved to thin the Republican field running for Senate in Kentucky, endorsing Rep. Andy Barr and prompting businessman Nate Morris to drop out of the race for retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell\u2018s seat. Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today\u2019s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.<\/p>\n

If you have feedback \u2014 likes or dislikes \u2014 email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com<\/a><\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team\u2019s latest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-624496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}