Death becomes her: Indiana GOP scrambles to replace candidate who won from beyond the grave

The Indiana Republican Party is moving forward with plans to appoint a new GOP candidate after the primary race for a U.S. congressional seat was won by a woman who passed away months before the election.

Jennifer Pace won a GOP primary for Indiana’s 7th Congressional District on May 7 with 31.2% of the vote, according to the Associated Press. The 59-year-old had been deceased since March 6 after suffering a heart attack. Pace’s name appeared on the ballot anyway, and the news of her death did not appear to be widely reported at the time of the election.

Next week, Indiana Republican party officials will find a replacement for Pace via a caucus. According to Indiana Code, IC 3-10-8-7.5 , and 3-13-1-8 , a caucus of precinct committeemen in the 7th District will be called by the state GOP to fill the vacancy.

“The Indiana GOP had 30 days after receiving official notice of a ballot vacancy to hold a caucus. In compliance with that, the caucus will be held on June 22nd,” said Griffin Reid, press secretary and digital director for the Indiana Republican Party, in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

The candidate chosen will face off in November against incumbent Rep. André Carson (D-IN), who has served nine terms since filling the seat in a 2007 special election. The district is located entirely within Marion County, which includes most of Indianapolis, which favors Democrats.

Here are some of the Republicans under consideration for the nomination:

The retired Army Lieutenant received 30% of the vote in the primary, losing the race to Pace by only 320 votes, according to the Associated Press.

Ping is no stranger to political campaigns – she has run for the 7th District seat four times in the past, including in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2016. Her closest race was in 2014, when she lost to Carson by 13 percentage points in the general election.

According to her Ballotpedia page, Ping served for 33 years in the United States Army Reserves and earned the rank of lieutenant colonel. After completing her time in the military, Ping returned to Indianapolis in 2006 to grow and expand her IT Network Service Provider business, Data Dudes of Indy, LLC. She is currently still serving as the owner and president of the company that services small to medium sized companies with a wide range of IT products and services.

Phillip Davis, a retired postal worker, received 26% of the vote on election night. The father of five and grandfather of three is a sixth-generation Hoosier who graduated from Indiana University in 1982 and previously worked as a mail carrier and business owner and manager.

“I am a pro-life, pro-business, pro-2nd Amendment, pro-personal freedom and responsibility conservative who believes the Constitution of the United States is the guideline under which we live,” Davis said in a Ballotpedia candidate survey.

In a statement on what appears to be a campaign Facebook page, Davis acknowledged his candidacy is unlikely to move forward in the future.

“I imagine the party will appoint Cat Ping to fill the position (if you didn't know, the winner Jenn Pace is deceased). I support Cat wholeheartedly and hope she takes down Andre Carson. It's time for him to go home,” Davis wrote in a post.

Gabe Whitley, who ran for Evansville mayor in 2022, has reportedly taken himself out of the running for consideration for the congressional seat. The 26-year-old, who has nicknamed himself “Honest Gabe,” finished last in the race with 13.2% support.

In a post on LinkedIn, Whitley expressed frustration that the voters had selected a candidate who is deceased.

“After deep consideration and talking with my supporters I will not be running in the special election,” Whitley wrote. “The voters deserve the dead person to represent them. I am young and I will focus on my life, my career and starting my own family.”

Whitley garnered attention this cycle after questions were raised about his campaign contributions and allegations of fraudulent financial reporting, according to reporting from the Indiana Capital Chronicle.

Pace’s win in Indiana’s 7th District comes just before Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ) still won his primary election in early June, even after he passed away from a heart attack in April. He was running for reelection unopposed for his seat in a deep blue suburb of New York City.

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Due to New Jersey’s filing rules, the deadline for the 2024 election has already passed, meaning no one could replace Payne in the regular primary before the election. Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) set a July 16 special primary election and a special general election on Sept. 18 to select a new member to close out Payne’s term.

There have been some less recent examples of deceased candidates winning elections. In 1972, Rep. Nick Begich (D-AK) won his election after an airplane he was flying in went down, and he was presumed dead. In 2000, Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan won a Senate race after he died a month previously.