Recount Commission replacement sought in narrow Indiana Senate primary

State Sen. Liz Brown is asking an Indiana Recount Commission member to step aside from the review of her narrow Republican primary win because of campaign contributions he made to her opponent.

Brown’s petition filed Wednesday with the Recount Commission seeks the recusal of Indianapolis attorney Paul Mullin from involvement in the recount of the 14-vote margin between Brown and challenger Darren Vogt.

Mullin, a Republican member of the three-person commission, contributed $2,000 to Vogt’s campaign, according to state Election Division reports.

Brown is seeking her fourth term and faced a bitter primary against Vogt, who is a staffer to U.S. Sen. Jim Banks. Vogt was also supported by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, who gave $140,000 from his campaign fund to Vogt.

Brown’s petition, submitted by Evansville attorney Joshua Claybourn, said it had informally asked Mullin to recuse himself from the recount before Wednesday’s filing.

Mullin said Wednesday that he had voluntarily started what he called “the time-consuming legal process of securing a proxy” to replace him for the recount.

“As a recount commissioner, I must refrain from commenting on, or responding to, Senator Brown’s motion and simultaneous media campaign against me that she initiated today,” Mullin said in a statement to the Capital Chronicle. “Rather, I would like to take this opportunity to remind all County and State recount litigants and their attorneys to be civil, ethical, and professional towards each other and towards other participants in the election recount process.”

Certified vote tallies for Senate District 15, which is entirely in Fort Wayne’s Allen County, gave Brown a lead of 5,241 to 5,227 over Vogt in the May 5 primary.

Challenger seeks recount of 15-vote loss to Republican Sen. Liz Brown

Brown’s petition also cited $91,000 in contributions from Mullin to Rokita’s attorney general campaign fund since 2020.

“This is a three-member Commission conducting a recount and contest in which individual ballot decisions may control the result,” the petition said. “A single vote can matter. In that setting, a Commissioner who directly supported one party to the proceeding should not sit in judgment of that party’s recount and contest.”

The petition said Vogt’s campaign had agreed that Mullin should recuse himself from the recount.

Vogt attorney James Ammeen did not immediately reply Wednesday to a request for comment.

Mullin, a partner with the Indianapolis law firm Lewis and Wilkins, was appointed to the commission by the state Republican chair in September 2025.

Republican Secretary of State Diego Morales, by state law, is the Recount Commission’s chair. Democrat Michael Claytor has been a commission member since 2016.

Recount Director Evan Norris said in a Wednesday order that a pre-recount inspection for the Brown-Vogt race would proceed Thursday and Friday as scheduled, with no action on the recusal request until later in the month.

This story has been updated with comment from Paul Mullin.