Water issues, pipeline play into Statehouse leader’s primary loss

A Republican lawmaker in a leadership position in the Indiana House lost in the GOP primary this month to a local county councilor, despite thousands in contributions intended to keep the incumbent in place.

A controversial water pipeline seems to have played a role.

State Rep. Sharon Negele, R-Attica, has been in the office for 12 years, currently serving as deputy speaker pro tem, the third-in-command to House Speaker Todd Huston. But when issues with difficult answers began popping up in District 13, she knew it would be a difficult race.

Her district is one of the largest by geographic area in the state. It includes all of Benton and Warren counties, and portions of Fountain, Jasper, Montgomery, Newton, Tippecanoe and White counties.

It also includes the area along the Wabash River from which the Indiana Economic Development Corp. has considered pumping up to 100 million gallons of water per day to supply the 10,000-acre LEAP Innovation and Research District located 35 miles away in Lebanon. The plan, which faced intense pushback, has been studied but so far not implemented. Meanwhile, state officials are developing a longer term water plan for the entire region.

Concerns about both the water withdrawals and the millions of dollars the IEDC has spent on farmland for the LEAP project led to the formation of a group called “Stop the Water Steal,” which was critical of Negele’s work at the Statehouse.

Negele introduced House Bill 1305 this spring, which would have regulated groundwater retrievals. That legislation did not receive an initial committee hearing and died.

“It made me, certainly, appear weak and ineffective, even though I know for a fact I’m an effective leader,” Negele told IBJ. “It’s a hard thing to explain to people how typical legislation takes a couple of sessions.”

Gov. Eric Holcomb and legislative leaders committed in late 2023 that there would be no action on the pipeline until the water study by the Indiana Finance Authority was complete, which is expected to be in fall 2024.

That pause wasn’t enough, Negele said. She lost a GOP primary bid by more than 20 points to Matt Commons, a Warren County councilor, teacher, and Purple Heart-awarded veteran. He will face Democrat Edward Moyer Jr. in November.

“My community, especially, felt like we didn’t have a good voice at the table down in Indianapolis,” Commons told IBJ.

Noemi Ybarra, secretary of Stop the Water Steal, said the group appreciated that Negele wanted to slow and regulate a huge water transfer, but “thought that wasn’t nearly enough.”

“It’s likely that that perception of ‘not enough’ led to her loss in the primary,” Ybarra wrote in an email.

Andy Downs, professor emeritus of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue University Fort Wayne, said that incumbency is typically the best predictor of electoral success at the Indiana Legislature. But, he said incumbents can’t underestimate the influence a specific issue may have on their chances of reelection.

“When voters believe that something is being taken from them or that they are being asked to take on a larger burden than others or that they are not being supported in a way that is perceived as fundamental to their wellbeing, they will revolt,” he wrote in an email.

The issues caused by the LEAP district weren’t the only factor, though. Negele said there were two others: solar farms and carbon sequestration. Companies have been seeking to put solar farms and carbon sequestration projects on area farmland, and Negele said some rural voters wanted her to do more to halt them.

Commons claimed in campaign materials that votes from Negele on solar farms and carbon sequestration undermined local control, while she said these votes set up frameworks for these projects but still allowed local officials to have the final say.

Commons made local control on those issues his main platform, along with a focus on rural broadband and term limits.

In campaign materials, Commons has committed to fighting the “water-stealing” pipeline and carbon sequestration projects, which he wrote could be done through changing a 2022 law related to carbon sequestration.

“Can we stop” the pipeline, Commons asked. “I don’t know. I mean, I hope so for Tippecanoe County and the small family farms that are in that region.”

Despite Commons’ pushback on the votes that he said support the interests of local farmers, the Indiana Farm Bureau’s political action arm endorsed Negele for reelection.

When the race seemed close, outside forces tried to lend a hand: the House Republican Campaign Committee gave her $4,200, and the state Republican party donated $43,000.

“It just doesn’t really matter, I think, how much money you throw at a campaign,” Negele said. “Those are just very difficult issues to overcome. “

Negele does credit Commons for the hard work he put into campaigning, which he began last September. Commons said his was a “very grassroots campaign,” during which he put thousands of miles on his truck and knocked thousands of doors.

Would it have made a difference if Negele’s bill regulating water withdrawals had passed this session? “It certainly would have helped,” Negele said. “Would it have helped me enough? I don’t know if the other factors were, you know, big enough to stop that. … We can only speculate.”

Negele said she plans to take a break from public service to focus on Wolf’s Fine Chocolates, her family business, and spend time with her four grandchildren.