(CARMEL, Ind.) – Six Republican state legislators won’t be returning next session after losing primaries on Tuesday, while one race remains up in the air.
Wabash County Councilwoman Lorissa Sweet unseated Huntington Representative Dan Leonard, while Shelbyville’s Robb Greene defeated Franklin Representative John Young, with both challengers attacking the incumbents’ right flank. In Indianapolis, Representative John Jacob, who won his own conservative insurgent campaign against an incumbent two years ago, lost his renomination bid to Julie McGuire, who argued Jacob obstructed conservative proposals with persistent no votes on bills he contended didn’t go far enough.
Jacob’s frequent ally, Milford Representative Curt Nisly, fell victim to redistricting, losing nearly three-to-one to Warsaw Representative Craig Snow after new lines placed them in the same district. Two other Republicans lost to fellow incumbents after redistricting put them in head-to-head matchups. Bloomfield Representative Jeff Ellington lost a bitter contest to Jasonville Representative Bruce Borders. In the Senate, mapmakers tried to avoid a double-incumbent primary by placing Houchin in a district with Jeffersonville Republican Ron Grooms, who had announced his retirement. But Grooms resigned instead, followed weeks later by Houchin after she launched her congressional campaign. In a battle of senators seeking full terms after winning caucuses to complete those of their predecessors, Houchin’s successor, Byrneville Senator Gary Byrne, emerged victorious over Greenville’s Kevin Boehnlein.
One state House seat remained too close to call. Hamilton County Councilman Fred Glynn and former Trump administration official Suzie Jaworowski were separated by fewer than 10 votes for most of the night, in a race for an open House seat stretching from Carmel to a sliver of Indianapolis. They’re close enough that late-arriving mail-in ballots could wipe out Glynn’s razor-thin lead, which stood at six votes with one Marion County vote center still to be counted. And whoever loses may seek a recount.
Frankfort funeral director Mark Genda and Zionsville Republican Becky Cash won primaries for two open seats representing Boone County, with Cash defeating former BMV commissioner Kent Abernathy and former Brownsburg Representative Matt Whetstone for a newly created open seat in Indy’s western suburbs. IPS principal Andrea Hunley won a five-way Democratic race for another new open seat, in Indianapolis.
Retired Marine Colonel Craig Haggard of Mooresville easily won the Republican nomination in an open seat covering Indy’s south and west suburbs.
