- Jennifer Pace has been declared the winner of the GOP primary in Indiana’s 7th district.
- There’s just one problem: she died two months ago.
- Republicans are expected to convene to choose someone else to run in the solidly Democratic seat.
On Tuesday, Republicans in Indiana nominated a woman who has been dead for two months to take on incumbent Democratic Rep. André Carson.
Public relations specialist Jennifer Pace won a crowded primary in the state’s 7th congressional district with more than 31% of the vote, according to Decision Desk HQ. But according to several reports, Pace — who also ran for the seat in 2022 — died of a heart attack in early March.
According to a Ballotpedia candidate survey, Pace’s platform included limiting government interference, parental rights, and addressing inflation.
“My parents instilled that limiting government overreach has always been the Republican way to protect individual freedom, rights and equality of which I’m committed to doing,” Pace wrote in the survey.
It remains unclear who will actually be the GOP nominee in the Indianapolis-based House seat. Under state law, local precinct committee members meet to select a new nominee when the current nominee dies.
But it’s also somewhat beside the point — Carson, who’s served in the House since 2008, has won with more than 60% of the vote since 2016.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened.
In fact, there are several instances of dead candidates winning not just primaries, but general elections.
Two famous examples include Rep. Nick Begich in 1972 and Gov. Mel Carnahan in 2000, both of whom won elections in their respective states of Alaska and Missouri after dying in plane crashes.
