INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Boland wasted little time plunging into the crowd at a booth serving deep-fried dough covered with powdered sugar — the fairground delicacy better known as an elephant ear.
The Democratic candidate for state treasurer shook sticky hands on a recent evening but seemed unfazed. Over the course of several days at the Indiana State Fair, he and his volunteer staff were quite comfortable with the menu of goodies fried, dipped or served on a stick.
Boland — a retired educator who moved to Indiana two years ago from Illinois — has run for office and won. But that was always in local races where knocking on doors seemed the best way to meet voters.
“You can’t knock on all the doors in Indiana, so you really have to rely on events like this,” he said. “You get to see a lot of people up close.”
His Republican opponent, Kelly Mitchell, shares his appreciation for the fair as a place to meet the electorate. Like Boland, she’s running her first statewide campaign. On a recent morning, she introduced herself to fair-goers while recommending the MacDaddy — a grilled sandwich stuffed with macaroni-and-cheese.
Caloric indulgences, agricultural displays, a midway and a packed concert schedule lure people from throughout Indiana, making the fair a ready place for politicking, especially for statewide campaigns. By the time the 17-day fair ends this week, about 900,000 visitors — many of them voters — will have passed through its gates.
For candidates, the more exposure to voters, the better.
That’s especially so during what’s described as an “off-off” election year, when only three statewide races are on November’s ballot. It’s a phenomenon every 12 years in Indiana: There are local and congressional races on the ballot, but no race for governor, U.S. senator or president. The statewide races are for what may be the three least-known offices — auditor, treasurer and secretary of state.
“It doesn’t feel like you’re in an off year when you’re in the middle of it,” said Mitchell, a former Cass County commissioner who until recently ran the TrustINdiana local government investment fund. “But it can be tough to get voters interested.”
Political scientist Andy Downs, of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, agreed that candidates have a lot of convincing to do.
“People wonder why those offices are elected to begin with,” he said.
Add in that all of this year’s candidates are taking their first shot at statewide runs. Two of the Republicans, Secretary of State Connie Lawson and Auditor Suzanne Crouch, are former state legislators. Both were appointed to their current posts to fill vacancies.
For almost all of them, the fair is an easy and inexpensive way to meet and greet voters — even if the conversations don’t run very deep.
Republicans are hoping their all-female slate will appeal to voters, while Democrats aim to tap discontent with Republicans who control the both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s office. The Libertarian Party, which had big presence at the fair two years ago, when “Survivor” star Rupert Boneham ran for governor, has scaled back this year.
Despite the fair’s convenience, it does fall early in the campaign.
“People will get engaged later,” said Mike Claytor, an accountant, attorney and Democrat running for auditor. “The question is: What will they get engaged about?”
On a recent evening at the fair, before Claytor went on a search for a pork tenderloin sandwich, his wife was getting more attention than he was for a blue ribbon she’d won for her photography.
Crouch, his Republican opponent, was also sharpening her photo skills, albeit for a different purpose. She posted snapshots of herself at the fair on her campaign’s Facebook page. One has her standing near the statute of a dairy cow. She’s hugging a cartoon soybean in another.
Meanwhile, both Lawson and her Democratic opponent, Marion County Clerk Beth White, posted on Twitter about attending the Indiana Pork Producers’ ham breakfast on opening day — mandatory fare for Hoosier politicians.
In on years, off years or even off-off years, avoiding the fair is unthinkable.
“You’ve got thousands of people from around the state in one spot,” Downs said. “If they don’t go, they can be very easily accused of not being a serious candidate.”
U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, a Democrat from South Bend, won’t be on the ballot for another four years. But he had a significant presence during the fair’s first week. He held a Senate committee field hearing on the financial exploitation of the elderly then followed that with lunch at the fair’s Pioneer Village.
Donnelly picked the right day — $2 Tuesday — when the usual $8 admission is discounted. It was also Golden Hoosiers’ Day, when seniors rode the tractor-pulled shuttle around the 250-acre fairgrounds for free.
Donnelly’s hearing was packed.
“I don’t think I could have gotten a crowd like that anywhere else,” he said.