Hoosiers typically don’t have a large swing in national politics because of Indiana’s late primary date, but experts are calling this year’s primary on May 3rd a deciding factor in the outcome of the GOP National Convention.

The primary has brought GOP candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz to Indiana this week. Governor John Kasich will visit the Hoosier state next Tuesday. And Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both have established campaign offices in the state.

Professor at the Indiana University Department of Political Science, Ted Carmines, says Indiana typically doesn't matter because the candidates for each part are usually decided by now.

"Usually, by the time we get to may, either one of the two parties, we've already settled the nomination, and many times, both the parties have settled the nomination," he says. "This is why this is such an unusual year to come down to May 3rd and have both parties, actually, being quite competitive."

When Hoosiers vote on May 3, they'll be voting for presidential candidates. These votes bind delegates to certain candidates, divided differently depending on each party. For the GOP, if one candidate doesn't get the required number of votes, delegates become unbound and vote again.

District 7 Chair of the Republican Party, Tom John, explains how the Republican party sees the divide between the candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz and how it will affect the party.

"I think what you find is if Trump's the nominee, you have a part of his coalition who is there, but you do lose a certain segment of Republicans," he says. However, if Ted Cruz is the nominee, I think you see a lot more Republicans coalesce around him, but part of the Trump coalition is actually the people that weren't really Republicans to start with."

State Democratic Chairman John Zody says the excitement around this election from both parties is important to get people involved at all levels of the political process and that is especially important because Indiana has had some of the lowest voter turnout across the country.

"I think people in Indiana are ready for some change, here at the state level. And we are just pushing forward; I don't see anyone getting tired," he says.

Both representatives from the GOP and Democratic Party  urged voters to learn about who is running and to get out and vote on May 3.

Our guests:

John Zody, Party Chair, Indiana Democratic Party

Edward Carmines, Professor, Department of Political Science at IU Bloomington

Tom John, 7th Congressional District Chair, Indiana GOP