Tim Evans

tim.evans@indystar.com

Joseph Albert "Trey" Hollingsworth III, the young multimillionaire who ruffled feathers when he filed to run for Congress shortly after moving to Indiana last fall, then spent $2 million of his own money to woo voters, won the Republican nomination to fill the 9th District congressional seat.

Trey Hollingsworth, 32, won the nomination by portraying himself as a political outsider and knocking off three seasoned Republican politicians: Attorney General Greg Zoeller and State Senators Erin Houchin and Brent Waltz.

Hollingsworth picked up the win with 34 percent, with 520 of 571 precincts reporting. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. Houchin received 25 percent of the vote; and Zoeller had 22 percent.

He will square off in November against Indiana University professor Shelli Yoder, who won the Democrat primary with 70 percent of the vote.

Todd Young, the Republican who held the 9th District seat since 2011, won the GOP nomination to run for U.S. senator.

Young's decision to vacate his congressional seat led to a rush to replace him in the strongly Republican district that stretches from Johnson County to the Ohio River. The primary attracted five Republicans and four Democrats.

Hollingsworth, who moved to Indiana from Tennessee last year, out-spent his competitors by a wide margin and got a boost from a super PAC funded primarily by his father, who spent about $500,000 on ads attacking Zoeller as a political insider. It was an approach, political observers said, that played perfectly to a Republican electorate fed up with Washington politics — the same voters who propelled Donald Trump to a decisive Indiana win that knocked Ted Cruz out of the race.

In the final weeks of the campaign, Houchin and a new super PAC, funded primarily by Indianapolis businessman Bill Oesterle, struck back at Hollingsworth. The one-two punch included mailings and radio commercials labeling Hollingsworth as "Tennessee Trey," a rich carpetbagger who moved to Indiana to buy a seat in Congress.

Hollingsworth won't necessarily have the same "outsider" advantage over Yoder, who was the party's candidate in 2014 and lost to Young.

A statement from her campaign indicates Hollingsworth is likely to face more questions about his motives and credentials in the race with Yoder.

"Our opponent thinks he can buy a seat in Congress. He moved to Indiana less than a year ago, and has spent over a million dollars of his own money to get elected,” said Alex Rosselli, campaign manager for Yoder.

“Shelli was born and raised in Indiana, and she understands the challenges facing middle-class Hoosier families. She knows how difficult it is to start and run a small business because she saw her parents struggle to make ends meet while running their family business when she was young. She has a proven record of sound fiscal leadership on the Monroe County Council, where she has worked towards a balanced budget every year, as well as in her position as a non-profit executive director responsible for keeping the organization’s fiscal house in order.”

John Zody, chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, also released a statement critical of Hollingsworth.

“Tonight, Trey Hollingsworth tried to pull one over on the 9th Congressional District by clinching the Republican nomination for Congress. He’s convinced that being an absentee candidate supported by dark money will get him over the line in November," Zody said.

"Well, Tennessee Trey needs to think again. Hoosiers in Southern Indiana admire hard workers, not someone who relies on handouts to slide by.”

Yoder added she was "thrilled and humbled" by the support of district voters. And while she may challenge Hollingsworth's background, she said her campaign is about something more important.

“This campaign is about our shared vision for bringing commonsense solutions to Congress to solve the challenges facing our country," she said. "In too many communities across Central and Southern Indiana, families are working hard but struggling to make ends meet, while living paycheck-to-paycheck. College graduates are desperately trying to find a job that will allow them to pay off their student loans. Small businesses and entrepreneurs need the red tape cut and the tax burdens eased.”

In the GOP race, Zoeller and Waltz both conceded around 10 p.m.

"I've called all of the candidates who sought the Republican nomination in Indiana's 9th Congressional District to congratulate them on their efforts. In my conversation with Trey Hollingsworth I offered both congratulations and also my full support for the fall election," Zoeller said in a statement.

"Over the next few days I plan on thanking all those who supported my campaign and focus my full energy on continuing to work each and every day as Attorney General to serve Hoosiers to the best of my skill and ability."

Waltz posted a concession statement on his Facebook page and said that would be his only comment Tuesday night. In it, he congratulated Hollingsworth and thanks his family and supporters.

"We fought hard and we did our best," Waltz said. "We did everything in our power to win."

Houchin could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.



Call IndyStar reporter Tim Evans at (317) 444-6204. Follow him on Twitter: @starwatchtim.This story will be updated.

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