The Indiana Republican primary this year has seen the worst of scorched-earth politics. While the candidates have been more than willing to throw elbows, the voters are more than willing to wear their allegiance on their sleeves.
Or on their front lawn, for that matter.
Jerrald Hawkins wants his neighbors, commuters passing through the little Indiana town of Cicero, and possibly passengers cruising below cloud cover to know he supports Rep. Todd Rokita for Senate. Cutting his lawn in all-caps, Hawkins spelled out Rokita with giant letters on his yard.
Rokita couldn’t be happier with this, uh, grassroots endorsement.
Thank you for all the hard work, the support, and these awesome videos, Jerrald! #INsen pic.twitter.com/dboxVOTGV6
— Team Rokita (@TeamRokita) May 8, 2018
More than a gimmick, the display is good news for Rokita who has run as the de facto Trump candidate. Hawkins gave the president the same treatment during the general election.
When his sixth Trump sign was stolen, Hawkins opted for the weed-eater and the lawnmower instead. “I decided to take matters into my own hands,” he told Fox59. “It’s the greatest country on earth.” The sign was never stolen and went slightly viral attracting an army of Internet trolls who promised to uproot it. Hawkins didn’t mind and promised “to keep cutting it like this until Trump’s elected.”
His only regret? Running out of room. “I need to apologize to Governor Pence. I ran out of yard, so I couldn’t get his name down there,” he said at the time.
Two years later, Rokita is the one on Hawkin’s yard and if Rokita wins Hawkins will have plenty of yardwork to do ahead of November when the Republican nominee takes on incumbent Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind.
