(INDIANAPOLIS) — Republicans’ Indiana dominance extended to state legislative races, with the party apparently on track to expand its House supermajority.
Democrats needed to add just one seat to break Republicans’ House supermajority, but with President Trump and Gov. Eric Holcomb winning Indiana by landslides, Republicans seized the advantage in several House races. Former Minority Leader Terry Goodin (D-Crothersville) appears to have lost his race to Republican Zach Payne 56-44%. Representative Melanie Wright (D-Yorktown) trails Republican Elizabeth Rowray 54-46%. And two Lake County Republicans who lost their seats two years ago, Hal Slager and Julie Olthoff, are ahead in their attempts to win them back, with Slager leading Representative Chris Chyung (D-Schererville) by six points and Olthoff ahead of Representative Lisa Beck (D-Crown Point) by four.
The election night results, always unofficial, are even more tentative this year, with thousands of Hoosiers casting absentee ballots by mail. That’s especially true in Marion and Hamilton Counties, where Democrats hoped a suburban backlash against President Trump could push out House Speaker Todd Huston (R-Fishers), Representatives Jerry Torr and Donna Schaibley (R-Carmel), Representative Cindy Kirchhofer (R-Indianapolis), and Senators Mike Young and Jack Sandlin (R-Indianapolis).
Instead, Democrats are left to hope that 30,000 uncounted ballots in Hamilton County and an undetermined number in Marion County are enough to erase leads of eight points or more for all those incumbents. Kirchhofer’s race against Democrat Mitch Gore was the closest when counting stopped for the night, at 1,400 votes. In Mishawaka, Rep. Ross Deal (D) trails Republican Jake Teshka 58-42%, with 28,500 uncounted ballots in St. Joseph County.
Democrats do hold an edge in an Indianapolis Senate race, with Republican Senator John Ruckelshaus trailing former Indianapolis city controller Fady Qaddoura by 555 votes. Democrats had only slim hopes of breaking the Republican supermajority in the Senate — a Qaddoura win would reduce the Republican edge to 39-11.
