The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that state Senator Spencer Deery won the Republican primary for Senate District 23 by three votes, reversing a recount commission decision that had previously awarded the nomination to his challenger, Paula Copenhaver.

The unanimous decision came hours after oral arguments and cited an Indiana statute providing that ballots remain valid despite errors by election officials. The court ordered the Recount Commission to recertify results showing Deery with 6,335 votes to Copenhaver's 6,332 and directed election officials to resume preparations with Deery's name on the general election ballot.

Deery, a Republican from West Lafayette, initially prevailed in the May 5 primary by three votes. The Indiana Recount Commission later rejected several absentee ballots cast for Deery, primarily over missing clerk seals or signatures attributed to election worker mistakes. That process flipped the outcome, giving Copenhaver a three-vote lead at 6,332 to 6,329.

Deery appealed the commission's rulings directly to the Supreme Court. Justices emphasized the paramount interest in counting ballots where voters followed proper procedures and faulted the commission for lacking consistent standards in disqualifying votes.

The race drew national attention because President Donald Trump endorsed Copenhaver as part of efforts targeting incumbent senators who opposed mid-decade congressional redistricting last year. Deery is now among a small number of targeted incumbents who survived their primaries.

Copenhaver, a former Fountain County Republican chair and staffer for Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, had benefited from the recount commission's 2-1 decisions to disallow the contested ballots. The Supreme Court order vacates those determinations and restores the original certified margin in Deery's favor.

The ruling ensures Deery will face the Democratic nominee in November for the district covering parts of six counties between Lafayette and Terre Haute. Election officials must now adjust ballot printing and related preparations accordingly.