Editor’s note: This is the third in a series analyzing campaign finance reports for contested offices in Johnson County. Stories looking at Indiana Statehouse races and local offices were previously published and can be found online at dailyjournal.net. Another story analyzing how residents are supporting the three Indiana gubernatorial candidates will be printed later this week.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris has out-raised her Republican opponent over the last three months in Johnson County.
From Aug. 1 to Oct. 16, Harris has raised about $104,693 from Johnson County voters. Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump has raised about $47,709 in the same time frame, according to campaign finance reports from the Federal Election Commission.
The Daily Journal looked at reports for three campaign committees affiliated with Trump and Harris each: Donald J. Trump for President 2024 Inc., Donald J. Trump Republican Nominee Fund 2024, the Trump Save America joint fundraising committee, Harris for President, Kamala Harris for the People and the Harris Victory Fund joint fundraising committee. Those reports showed Harris is making stronger inroads while Trump still has strong support across Johnson County.
Nationally, Harris has had fundraising momentum since she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. This has continued into October.
For the first half of October, Harris reported raising $176 million across her fundraising network while Trump reported raising $97 million among his affiliated groups, POLITICO reported.
Of the 12 zip codes covering Johnson County, Harris tends to get more large dollar donations — particularly in larger communities. Harris leads in Greenwood’s 46143 zip code — covering Center Grove through the city’s south and east sides into rural Clark Township — giving $47,208.49 to her campaign. The 46142 zip code gave more to Trump, however; this zip code covers northern White River Township to the northwestern part of the city giving $17,027.20, filings show.
Many of the donations in both zip codes were repeat donations from the same donors. On average, voters in the 46143 zip code gave $111.08 to Harris and $50.56 to Trump, while voters in the 46142 zip code on average gave $33.58 to Trump and $53.40 to Harris, data from this time frame shows.
Harris’ fundraising lead continued in all the other county zip codes, excluding Trafalgar and New Whiteland. Only one zip code reported no contributions to Harris or Trump this year: 46142, which covers the Needham area and a part of western Shelby County.
The zip code that has raised the most for Harris in the county is the 46143 zip code, and the one that raised the most for Trump was 46142.
For Harris, the top zip codes were Greenwood zip codes 46143 and 46142, along with Franklin’s 46131, Morgantown’s 46160 and Edinburgh’s 46124. For Trump, the top zip codes were Greenwood’s 46142 and 46143, Bargersville’s 46106, Franklin’s 46131 and Morgantown’s 46160, according to filings.
County-wide, voters gave $88.72 to Harris and $38.82 to Trump on average from Aug. 1 to Oct. 16.
These numbers add to the totals reported in August for both campaigns. From Jan. 1 to July 31, Trump had a larger fundraising lead in Johnson County. Trump had raised about $188,809 from Johnson County voters while Harris had raised nearly $41,535 in the same time frame, though she had a shorter time to do so since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed Harris.
Based on that data, Trump had a lead in Greenwood’s 46143 and 46142 zip codes, along with Bargersville’s 46106 and Franklin’s 46131.
The 46124 zip code, which covers Edinburgh and the surrounding area in Johnson, Bartholomew and Shelby counties, reported giving more to Harris during that time frame.
Combined, from Jan. 1 to Oct. 16, Trump has raised $236,518 from county residents while Harris raised $146,228. This makes Trump the overall fundraising leader to date.
While candidate donations are typically used as a barometer for support of a particular candidate, it is impossible to say whether the surge in local contributions for Harris will translate into more Democratic votes next month.
Johnson County has historically voted for the Republican presidential candidate, with voters selecting Republicans for president every consecutive year since 1952. The last time a Democratic presidential candidate won the county was in 1948: President Harry S. Truman with 49.9% of the vote.
Election Day is Nov. 5. Early voting is underway now.
BY THE NUMBERS
Presidential Campaign Finance Contributions
Here’s a look at how Johnson County, and partially surrounding areas, have supported Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. The list is organized by city and zip code. Data is from Aug. 1 to Oct. 16:
Bargersville, 46106 — Harris: $6,083.49; Trump: $4,950.32
Edinburgh, 46124 — Harris: $8,657.51; Trump: $676.97
Franklin, 46131 — Harris: $10,036.45; Trump: $4,079.68
Greenwood, 46142 — Harris: $16,607.04; Trump: $17,027.20
Greenwood, 46143 — Harris: $47,208.49; Trump: $16,685.68
Indianapolis, 46259 (covering far northeastern Johnson County) — Harris: $2,259.64; Trump: $664.25
Morgantown, 46160 — Harris: $9,544.25; Trump: $1,436.76
Needham, 46162 — Harris: $0; Trump: $0
New Whiteland, 46184 — Harris: $0; Trump: $90
Nineveh, 46164 — Harris: $2,611.57; Trump: $691.84
Trafalgar, 46181 — Harris: $220; Trump: $441.28
Whiteland, 46184 — Harris: $1,464.71; Trump: $965.18
Total — Harris: $104,693.15; Trump: $47,709.16
Source: Federal Election Commission
