{"id":3616,"date":"2018-01-09T17:15:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T22:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajcongress.org\/jewishpoliticalguide\/?page_id=3616"},"modified":"2024-07-03T17:16:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T21:16:47","slug":"jewish-insider-indiana-house-primary-featuring-anti-israel-ex-congressman-coming-down-to-the-wire","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ajcongress.org\/jewishpoliticalguide\/jewish-insider-indiana-house-primary-featuring-anti-israel-ex-congressman-coming-down-to-the-wire\/","title":{"rendered":"JEWISH INSIDER: Indiana House primary featuring anti-Israel ex-congressman coming down to the wire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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UNITED STATES – JUNE 28: John Hostettler, R-Id. (Photo By Douglas Graham\/Roll Call\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Marc Rod<\/a>, Jewish Insider<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday\u2019s Republican primary in Indiana\u2019s 8th Congressional District<\/a> is likely to come down to the wire, after pro-Israel groups injected millions in outside spending in a bid to block a former congressman \u2014 who voted repeatedly against Israel \u2014 from returning to Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The race is largely down to former GOP Rep. John Hostettler and state Sen. Mark Messmer, according to political operatives tracking the race. Hostettler, while in office in the late 1990s and early 2000s, voted repeatedly against funding for Israel and other pro-Israel legislation, and claimed in a self-published book<\/a> that a primary motivation \u2014 driven by prominent Jewish officials \u2014 for the Iraq War was protecting Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project has spent close to $1.3 million on advertisements in the race, while the Republican Jewish Coalition\u2019s super PAC<\/a> has spent nearly $1 million. AIPAC and RJC have both endorsed Messmer. Other outside groups have pumped additional millions into the race, mostly to Messmer\u2019s benefit, although Hostettler has seen some outside help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Jewish Insider<\/em> covered the initial spending against Hostettler and his record, Hostettler posted<\/a> on his Facebook page implying that a \u201ccabal\u201d is conspiring against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also slammed the Anti-Defamation League as the \u201cAnti-Defamation of Leo Frank,\u201d whose lynching in 1915 prompted the ADL\u2019s creation, and referred to its former national director, Abraham Foxman, as \u201cRabbi Foxman.\u201d (Foxman is not a rabbi.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antisemites continue to insist<\/a> that Frank, who was posthumously pardoned and widely believed to have been unjustly prosecuted and convicted of rape and murder due to antisemitism, is guilty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cam Savage, an Indiana Republican political strategist unaffiliated with any campaign, said that Messmer\u2019s campaign generally feels comfortable about where it stands going into primary day, but the election is likely to be close. There has not been public polling on the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hear people in both camps say they expect it to be close,\u201d Savage told JI. \u201cIf anyone tells you they know, they\u2019re probably lying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another individual familiar with the race echoed the view that Messmer is in a strong position, but said it will be a race to the finish line on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside spending, as well as the Messmer campaign\u2019s own substantial fundraising \u2014 Messmer raised $763,000 to Hostettler\u2019s $40,000 as of the end of last month \u2014 has helped fuel Messmer, Savage told JI. But Hostettler remains well-known in the district, even years after having left public office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think [Messmer\u2019s team] would acknowledge that he\u2019s been a tougher opponent than they probably would have anticipated,\u201d Savage said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hostettler, Savage explained, consistently faced competitive reelection races when he was in office, meaning that he was \u201cvery well-defined and very well-branded among the primary electorate\u201d in a district that\u2019s largely the same as when he was last elected. Savage added that the primary voting base tends to be older and will be more likely to remember Hostettler\u2019s time in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hostettler\u2019s son also represents a portion of the congressional district in the Indiana state House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messmer, though, is a popular state Senate incumbent, giving him a solid base of support inside the district, which includes Evanston and Terre Haute. Whether the spate of advertising is sufficient to help Messer expand his voting bloc outside of his Senate district will be a key deciding factor in determining the election, Savage said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary is largely a race to the right, according to Savage, and Hostettler established himself in office as someone often willing to buck the rest of his party \u2014 a \u201cprivate Freedom Caucus before the Freedom Caucus was ever dreamt up,\u201d but with a more \u201clikable, charming, good natured\u201d attitude. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of the advertising from UDP has focused on Hostettler\u2019s views on Israel, an issue that Savage said is more salient now than it might have been months ago for the primary electorate, but would still probably not be a top issue for voters in the district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local endorsements aren\u2019t shaping up to be a major factor in the race, according to Savage, but he noted that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) \u2014 who is well-known inside the district, coming from an adjoining state \u2014 has shot TV advertisements touting his support for Hostettler. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hostettler is also receiving outside support from the American Leadership PAC, a group affiliated with Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), a former Hostettler staffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Banks spokesperson said that he has not issued an endorsement in the race and \u201cthinks there are a lot of good Republicans running and [is] looking forward to working with whoever wins after 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Marc Rod, Jewish Insider Tuesday\u2019s Republican primary in Indiana\u2019s 8th Congressional District is likely to come down to the wire, after pro-Israel groups injected millions in outside spending in a bid to block a former congressman \u2014 who voted repeatedly against Israel \u2014 from returning to Washington. The race is largely down to former GOP Rep. John Hostettler… more JEWISH INSIDER: Indiana House primary featuring anti-Israel ex-congressman coming down to the wire<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3617,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3616","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nJEWISH INSIDER: Indiana House primary featuring anti-Israel ex-congressman coming down to the wire - Jewish Political Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ajcongress.org\/jewishpoliticalguide\/jewish-insider-indiana-house-primary-featuring-anti-israel-ex-congressman-coming-down-to-the-wire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JEWISH INSIDER: Indiana House primary featuring anti-Israel ex-congressman coming down to the wire - Jewish Political Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Marc Rod, Jewish Insider Tuesday\u2019s Republican primary in Indiana\u2019s 8th Congressional District is likely to come down to the wire, after pro-Israel groups injected millions in outside spending in a bid to block a former congressman \u2014 who voted repeatedly against Israel \u2014 from returning to Washington. 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