Statehouse races to watch around Indianapolis, suburbs

Most blue and red lawn signs on Indianapolis street corners are emblazoned with the names of candidates running for U.S. president, governor or Congress. However, a handful of competitive races could change who represents Indianapolis metropolitan residents at the Indiana Statehouse. 

Political forecasting for Statehouse races can be tricky. Polling is rare and required campaign finance reports aren’t great indicators of who’s in the lead. To help, IBJ spoke with party leaders ahead of Election Day (Nov. 5) to scope out which races could be competitive. 

Both parties, of course, believe this election could  increase the power of their respective caucuses at the Statehouse. To turn the state from a Republican supermajority to just a majority would require Democrats to flip four House seats. 

And Megan Ruddie, director of the Indiana House Democratic Caucus, said her members have their eyes set on more than that. With the Republican party moving farther to the right and population demographics shifting, she said flipping traditionally red Indianapolis suburb seats is becoming more tangible. 

Meanwhile, Joe Elsener, Marion County GOP chair, said his party is focusing on turning out more voters and delivering the message that the supermajority has brought results over the past two decades.

House District 24 (Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, rural Boone and Hamilton counties)

The race for the open House District 24 seat features an ex-professional wrestler and a former Indianapolis Colts punter.

After following his dream of becoming a professional wrestler, Democrat Josh Lowry went to law school and spent five years as a deputy attorney general who defended state agencies, such as the Department of Child Services and Indiana State Police. Lowry, now a competitive bodybuilder, is focusing on abortion access, education, raising Indiana’s minimum wage, increasing access to family leave and child care accessibility.

Republican Hunter Smith, a University of Notre Dame graduate who punted in the NFL from 1999 to 2010 (including 10 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts), owns WonderTree Farm in Zionsville. He also is a musician and author. Smith is focused on conservation, farming, food, parental rights in education, public safety, anti-abortion issues, the Second Amendment, and growth and development.

House District 25 (Whitestown, Zionsville)

Incumbent Republican Rep. Becky Cash is seeking a second term in her race against Democrat Tiffany Stoner.

Cash is a naturopathic practitioner—meaning she provides education and access to natural-medicine remedies to her clients—and she owns Indy Natural Health Center. She defeated Democrat Jen Bass Patino in 2022, and her primary campaign issues are services for children with special needs, education and health care.

Stoner co-owns Nathaniel Edmunds Photography with her brother. She is focused on public education, business growth, women’s health, local control, fiscal matters and water issues.

Ruddie identified this race as one to watch that Democrats could flip, citing their contrasting stance on abortion access. 

House District 32 (Carmel, Fishers, Indianapolis)

In 2022, Democrat incumbent Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn narrowly defeated Republican Fred Glynn by nearly 250 votes. This time around she faces a new Republican challenger in Patricia Bratton.

Garcia Wilburn is an assistant professor of occupational therapy at Indiana University Indianapolis. During her two years in the legislature, she has focused her policy on strengthening public schools, improving public health and pushing for gun control. Her campaign lists public safety, quality of life and the economy as priorities. 

Bratton has been a small business owner for more than 30 years. Her campaign says she would seek to lower health care costs, increase funding for schools and police as well as expand mental health and addiction support services. 

House District 39 (Carmel and Westfield)

Democrat Matt McNally and Republican Danny Lopez are seeking an open House seat covering parts of Hamilton County.

McNally is a decorated military veteran who served 22 years in the U.S. Navy and has worked as an airline pilot. His campaign priorities include improving veteran health care, controlling rising property taxes, expanding access to pre-K, transparency and accountability, public education, mental health, reproductive rights, conservation and public safety.

Lopez, a Florida native and a grandson of Cuban political refugees, previously served in various positions under the last three Indiana governors, including deputy chief of staff for Gov. Eric Holcomb. In March 2020, he took a job as vice president for external affairs and communications with Pacers Sports & Entertainment. In a video announcement when he began his campaign, Lopez said his focuses are attracting high-paying jobs, strengthening services for Hoosier veterans, backing law enforcement and supporting parents and teachers.

House District 89 (Indianapolis)

Democrat incumbent Rep. Mitch Gore had a tight race in 2022, defeating his Republican opponent by a little more than 250 votes. Republican Yvonne Metcalfe seeks to unseat Gore, who defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Kirchhofer in 2020. 

Gore is a Marion County Sheriff’s Office captain and has been involved with his family’s restaurant near Washington Square. While in the House, he has focused his efforts on supporting law enforcement and reducing gun violence

Metcalf describes herself as a conservative who will stand up for Indianapolis against the radical left. She is an independent consultant for Mary Kay Cosmetics, according to LinkedIn. Her campaign hinges on supporting school choice, limited government and law enforcement.  

Senate District 35 (Indianapolis, Speedway, Decatur township, Plainfield)

Democratic City-County Councilor Jessica McCormick is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Mike Young. Young has served in the legislature since 1986 and split from his caucus during the 2022 special session, according to a letter he sent to the Senate president. 

Young disagrees that he left the caucus and says his colleagues have supported his campaign for reelection.

“I’m still a Republican. I’m still a member of the caucus.” He denied that the decision was based on the abortion legislation and said it was instead “based on principle.”

If he’s reelected, Young said his focus will be on property taxes and road improvement through corrections similar to legislation from Sen. Aaron Freeman that gave Indianapolis an additional $8 million in annual road funding.

Along with her part-time council work, McCormick is an engineer and instructor at IUPUI and Butler.

Her priorities are improving road safety, increasing education funding and prioritizing community engagement. She earned a key endorsement from the Indy Chamber, which supported a slate of mostly incumbents.

Senate District 20 (Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, rural Hamilton County) 

Republican incumbent Sen. Scott Baldwin won his first term in office in 2020 with 62% of the vote. Now, Baldwin will face Democrat Joel Levi in November as he seeks to remain in office.

Baldwin, CEO of Fishers-based construction and real estate firm Envoy Inc., is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who later served as a patrol officer, field training supervisor and detective supervisor in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. In the Senate, Baldwin serves on the Insurance and Financial Institutions, Tax and Fiscal Policy and Environmental Affairs committees.

Levi, an Anderson native, moved from Nashville, Tennessee, to Cicero in 2020 with his wife and son. He works as a pharmacy technician at Riverview Health in Noblesville. Levi would focus on advocating for background checks on private gun sales, women’s reproductive health, affordable housing, the environment and public schools.

Senate District 32 (Beech Grove, Franklin Township)

Will voters decide to oust Sen. Aaron Freeman for newcomer Democrat Katrina Owens over his record of bills that could harm IndyGo’s bus rapid transit system?

That is the hope for the scrappy group of pro-transit advocates that met at a near-east side pizza shop last year. Even before a candidate had emerged, this group began fundraising to campaign against Freeman. 

Owens, who writes in a candidate survey that Freeman unfairly targets Indianapolis with legislation, is running on reproductive freedom, gun control measures and improved public transit. The Indianapolis native has a worked in both employment consulting and higher education.

Freeman, who works as an attorney at his own law office, says he’s been painted as anti-transit or anti-Indianapolis, both of which he denies. Voters in his district, he says, support his crusade against IndyGo’s dedicated bus lanes according to internal polling.

Additionally, his priorities are public safety and fiscal discipline, as state agency budgets increase and revenue stagnates.

Senate District 36 (South Indianapolis, Southport, Greenwood)

Sen. Cyndi Carrasco was caucused into the seat held by the late Jack Sandlin. She faces her first election challenger in Democrat Suzanne Fortenberry, a Greenwood FedEx courier and LGBTQ+ rights supporter who says she’s focused on education reform.

Carrasco, who lost to Democrat Ryan Mears in the 2022 election for Marion County prosecutor, is no stranger to the statehouse. She worked in the Indiana Office of the Inspector General for more than 12 years. In 2015, she was named the state’s first female inspector general and was later named deputy general counsel under Gov. Eric Holcomb.

She currently works as vice president and general counsel at the University of Indianapolis.

In her first legislative session, Carrasco passed legislation focused on criminal justice, public safety and disaster relief. Her campaign website lists her priorities as property tax relief, public safety and improving education.

Fortenberry says she’s running against her opponent to be a voice for the working class. Born in Louisiana, Fortenberry came to Indiana for work and founded the not-for-profit Greenwood Indiana Pride Inc. Aside from hosting an annual pride festival, Fortenberry says the organization provides information on which businesses are LGBTQ+ friendly.