Source: PHOTO: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
STATEWIDE — Indiana will have five open seats in Congress this election cycle with four current lawmakers not seeking re-election in the House and one in the Senate.
Reps. Victoria Spartz (R-IN-5th), Greg Pence (R-IN-6th) and Larry Bucshon (R-IN-8th) are all planning to leave Congress at the end of their terms. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN-3rd) is running for the U.S. Senate seat being given up by Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) who is running for governor.
The turnover in lawmakers from Indiana this year could make for some big waves in the political landscape of the state, says Mike Wolf, the director of the Mike Downs Center For Politics at Purdue University-Fort Wayne.
“I think, definitely, you are going to see some legislators jump in (these races), Wolf said on Indy Politics. “And how will it affect this (legislative) session? The external pressures. Are we going to have more of the culture wars brought into this shorter session and things like that for people to try and get a leg up in this primary race.”
Wolf said the high turnover this year illustrates how this can impact the political makeup of Indiana all the way down to the local level with both parties jockeying to get the right candidates on the ballot in the right places.
“I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you just see a bunch of people crowding,” said Wolf of some of the races.
Wolf said from a policy standpoint there are some drawbacks to this many candidates leaving at the same time. He said when it comes to Bucshon and Pence, they both hold high-ranking spots on committees that have to to with energy, commerce, and healthcare.
“The entire delegation is obviously going to be much younger, but less experienced,” he said. “There may be an opportunity to miss out, unfortunately, on some things for those districts and for the state.”
He added that some candidates may be choosing to leave given the political upheaval in Congress given that both parties are holding on to extremely slim majorities in the Hosue and Senate.
As for the governor’s race, Wolf said Braun certainly has an advantage having won a statewide election before when he ran for Senate in 2018. But, he said in their eyes there is no clear frontrunner yet on the GOP side as Curtis Hill, Suzanne Crouch, Brad Chambers, and Eric Doden each have been sticking to their unique platforms.
