Indiana primary election costs two Statehouse incumbents

Two Statehouse incumbents lost their re-election bids Tuesday night, while several others appeared to hold on despite slim margins.

In the House, 26 races were contested for the GOP and six for Democrats. Eight open seats drew two-dozen hopefuls, but many of the chamber’s incumbents faced no primary competition.

Half of Indiana’s state senate seats were up for re-election in 2024, with those races also largely dominated by incumbents — most of whom ran unopposed.

Here’s how dozens of candidates fared around the state on Tuesday:

Winners — and losers

With 97% of the votes counted in western Indiana’s House District 13 race, five-term Republican incumbent Rep. Sharon Negele lost the GOP nomination to military veteran and high school teacher Matthew Commons, whose campaign promises include supporting rural Hoosiers’ autonomy and access to broadband, in addition to redirecting state tax dollars for teacher recruitment and retention.

As of 11:30 p.m., Negele trailed Commons by over 2,000 votes, with Commons winning 60% of the votes counted, according to the Associated Press.

Former Hobart City Councilman Sen. David Vinzant, sworn in on the first day of the 2024 legislative session, lost his primary race to Mark Spencer. Vinzant narrowly won in a January Democratic caucus vote over Spencer, a teacher and Gary councilman, to succeed Eddie Melton. Melton left the Senate after winning Gary’s mayoral race in late 2023. 

As of 11:30 p.m., Spencer had 66% of the vote to Vinzant’s 34%. The Associated Press called the race for Spencer with 94% of the vote cast.

Several other Republican incumbents appeared to have narrowly beat off challengers in races still not finalized, including Rep. Jim Lucas of Seymour in District 69. As of 11:30 p.m., Lucas had 58% of the vote to Brian Savilla’s 42% with 99% of votes counted. Savilla is a former GOP member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and now a high school history and government teacher.

Lucas faced legal troubles last summer, pleading guilty to two misdemeanors after he drove under the influence and crashed his vehicle — but successfully resisted calls to resign. During the legislative session earlier this year, Lucas further raised eyebrows when he briefly flashed a holstered handgun during a clash with young gun safety advocates.

In Senate District 35, comprising the eastern edge of Hendricks County and southwestern Marion County, embattled Sen. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis held out over his challenger, first-time Republican candidate Phillip Clay. Young had earned 55% of votes in the district with 99% of votes counted.

Young is among the longest-serving lawmakers in the Statehouse, having served in the Senate for 24 years and in the House for 14 years.

The incumbent senator left the Senate Republican caucus in 2022 during a special session targeting abortion restrictions. He expressed concern in a letter about exceptions in the ban and also listed other reasons for his departure.

Since then, Young stopped attending committee meetings and his longtime chamber seat surrounded by fellow Republicans was additionally moved to the corner by the Democrats.

Sen. Mike Bohacek of Michiana Shores, in Senate District 8, additionally succeeded over two Republican challengers, Joe Layne and Spencer England. The Associated Press called the race just after 9 p.m., with the incumbent earning about 44% of the votes. 

Margins in House District 45, held by Rep. Bruce Borders, were even narrower. Borders had just 38% of the vote with 98% of votes cast at 11:30 p.m. compared to Kellie Streeter’s 35%.

Streeter, the president of the Knox County Board of Commissioners, placed above former lawmaker Jeff Ellington, whose district boundaries changed during the 2021 redistricting session. Ellington had 27% of the vote.

New candidates see success in races for open seats

Many of the Indiana House chamber’s incumbents faced no primary competition. But eight incumbents announced they would not seek reelection, putting their seats up for grabs for the first time in years — and even decades.

In House District 24, previously held by Donna Schaibley of Carmel, the Associated Press called the Hamilton County seat for former Colts punter Hunter Smith. Smith snagged 62% of the vote over business owner Bill Gutrich’s 38%. 

The state arm of the Democratic Party panned Smith’s entry into the race, calling him an “anti-civil rights extremist” back in December for his affiliation with an anti-gay Christian nonprofit. Democrats hope to flip the seat in the November election.

A Hancock County seat, with a small portion of Madison County, went to former Gov. Eric Holcomb speechwriter Ethan Lawson. Longtime Rep. Bob Cherry announced his retirement earlier this year and the Associated Press called the race just after 8 p.m. 

With 99% of votes counted, Lawson won House District 53 with nearly 34% of the vote followed by Kevin Mandrell with 26%; Keely Butrum with 25%; and Brian Evans with 15%. 

In the race for the District 51 seat — vacated by Denny Zent of Angola, who announced his retirement in January — Tonya Isa overcame Rhonda Sharp for the GOP nomination in the safely red seat.

Isa clinched just over 56% of the vote with 82% of votes cast, spurred by support from Steuben County while LaGrange County favored Sharp — who won nearly 44% of the vote.

West of Indianapolis, Republican Alaina Shonkwiler won over her challenger, Laura Alerding, to secure the nomination in a race to fill the District 29 seat vacated by GOP Rep. Chuck Goodrich of Noblesville. 

Shonkwiler, a former district director for U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, had nearly 59% of the vote with 71% of votes cast to Aldering’s 41%. 

As of 10:30 p.m., less than 100 votes separated the two leading candidates in House District 90, which attracted a crowded field of contestants following Rep. Mike Speedy’s departure from the General Assembly.

Andrew Ireland had 38% of the vote with 99% of votes counted to Elizabeth Williams’ 37%, or 2,392 votes compared to 2,299. Tim McVey and David Water nabbed 19% and 6%, respectively.

The sole Senate retirement, John Crane of Avon, led to a vacancy in the seat split across Putnam and Hendricks Counties. With 58% of the votes counted, AP called the race for U.S. Navy veteran and former Hendricks County Sheriff Brett Clark with nearly 78% of the vote over Anne Engelhardt, who won 22%.