Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Democrat Fady Qaddoura has unseated first-term incumbent Sen. John Ruckelshaus, R-Indianapolis, to represent a district that includes northern Marion County and southern Hamilton County in the Indiana Senate.
Qaddoura had 52% of the vote to Ruckelshaus’ 48%, with 98% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press, which called the race shortly after 9 p.m.
Combined, the candidates spent more than $1 million on the race, one of the most hotly contested legislative races in the state.
Qaddoura, a former IBJ Forty Under 40 honoree, gives Democrats a rare pickup in a chamber in which Republicans hold a supermajority, meaning they have so many members they can create a quorum for business even if Democrats don’t show up.
Ruckelshaus was elected to represent Senate District 30 in 2016 with 51% of the vote, a year in which Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won the district. That gave Democrats confidence they could pick up the seat.
Qaddoura is a former controller for the city of Indianapolis. He left the city at the end of 2019 to become chief innovation officer for Katz Sapper & Miller, the city’s largest accounting firm.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
Congratulations. You calmly put up with a lot of nasty and misleading advertising and in my opinion it hurt your opponent more than it hurt you.
Ruck is shady AF. He used his position to get his foot in the door to sell for several businesses. Even as a R I couldn’t vote for him.
There’s something amusing about people accusing other people of being shady while hiding behind the anonymity of the internet. John put himself out there for the people in his district, how about your R E?
The People of Indiana lost a state senator who was a man of strong character in John Ruckelshaus. No one worked harder for their constituents. There was simply NO REASON to not re-elect him.
Ha! Good one Becky B
John came by my door and we spoke for 5-10 minutes. Never had the chance to meet Fady or was sent anything from him asking for my vote. Hopefully he will be more present as a representative to us in Fishers than he was during the race.
I don’t vote this district but really bad choice people. Ruck was clearly the man for this job.
Clearly not, since we didn’t elect him?
John was an outstanding legislator who will be sorely missed. He spent thousands of hours walking from one residence to another to discuss the issues. I never saw or heard from Fady. A true loss for ALL of us.
Thousands? That would be 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for a year. Exaggerate much?
I would comment, but I am not in the mood to be attacked by re this morning.
Democrats stealing everything they can.
They will destroy everyone! Even those migrating to this country.
A free election that didn’t go your way. Calm it down there chief.
Since Trump, the numbers in that district had sharply turned against any Republicans in that part of Indy and Hamilton County. I’m a little surprised John ran for re-election. He actually did incredibly well in a no-win district.
What Paul said.
I volunteered for Ruck and knocked a lot of doors with him in the six weeks of the election. One thing he made a point of doing was talking to any person that he saw in their yard with a Fady sign or knocking on the door of any person with a BLM sign.
Back in September, Fady actually parked in front of my house, saw me standing on the porch, looked me straight in the eye and chose NOT to come talk to me. I had a Ruck sign in the yard. The only one on the block.
This doesn’t say much about how he will legislate, and I wish him the best. But I think this fear, and his insistence that we concern ourselves with his religion, does make me believe that his claims of bi-partisan legislation are somewhat empty.
I know John Ruckelshaus personally and have for 20 years. I can say that you will never find a more honest and trustworthy person who listens to all concerns, whether considered left or right. He will be missed by all in the legislature.