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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now10:39 p.m.: Economic issues, immigration top Hoosier voters’ concerns
Indiana voters listed economic issues and immigration as top issues as they went to the polls on Tuesday.
AP VoteCast, a survey of the electorate in Indiana and throughout the U.S., found that 40% of Hoosier voters chose the economy and jobs as the most important issue facing the country in 2024. About 23% said immigration was the top issue, 11% said abortion and 9% said health care.
The survey is conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. Respondents were asked about the economy and jobs, health care, immigration, abortion, crime, climate change, foreign policy, gun policy and racism.
The answers nationwide were similar to those in Indiana. Across the U.S., 39% of respondents chose the economy and jobs as the top issue facing the country, while 20% said immigration, 11% said abortion and 8% said health care.
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10:25 p.m.: Houchin wins reelection in 9th District
Republican Rep. Erin Houchin won reelection to the U.S. House on Tuesday in the 9th Congressional District.
The first-term conservative defeated Timothy Peck, an emergency room physician who has created three mission-based health technology companies.
The AP declared Houchin the winner at 10:17 p.m. when she had about 65% of the vote.
Houchin campaigned on securing the U.S.-Mexico border, support for Israel, cutting federal spending, opposing abortion rights, promoting the Parents Bill of Rights on education and more.
Peck ran on simplifying health care and making it more accessible, abortion rights, securing the border by providing not only more border agents, but immigration judges and asylum officers.
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10:05 p.m.: McCormick concedes, says “extremism” will not win
Democrat Jennifer McCormick is the final speaker at a disappointing watch party for Indiana Democrats.
“We gave Sen. Braun a run that not a lot of people thought we could do,” McCormick said.
She used her final remarks of the campaign to validate transgender Hoosiers, who she said were attacked in every negative campaign advertisement this cycle. She called her run a “good news” campaign compared with the Braun ticket.
“Extremism will not win in Indiana. Not today, not ever,” she said.
Tears fell as McCormick told the crowd, “It has truly been my honor to represent all of you on the campaign trail.”
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9:25 p.m.: Carson easily claims reelection in 7th District
Democratic Rep. Andre Carson easily won reelection in Indiana’s 7th Congressional District, according to The Associated Press, which called the race at 9:06 p.m.
Carson has served in the U.S. House since winning a 2008 special election to succeed his late grandmother, Julia Carson.
He defeated Republican John Schmitz in the 7th District, which includes much of Indianapolis. With 54% of ballots counted, Carson had received nearly 70% of the vote.
A senior House Intelligence Committee member, Carson was intimately involved in the first open hearing on Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon in a half-century. He is one of three Muslims in Congress.
Schmitz proposed lowering the price of gas by opening pipelines closed by the current administration, buying more Canadian oil and suspending gasoline taxes for a year.
In his victory speech Tuesday night, Carson referenced ongoing conflicts outside of the U.S.
“We want to free Gaza. We want to free Sudan. We want to free Indianapolis,” Carson said. “But we can only do that when we realize that our party is the party of America’s future.”
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9:20 p.m.: Braun takes stage to declare victory, thank supporters
When Sen. Mike Braun was introduced as governor-elect for the first time at the GOP’s watch party, he did so to the tune of a ringing boxing bell and Indiana GOP Chair Randy Head yelling out “TKO.”
“I can’t wait to hit the ground running, taking this state to a place where they put us with Texas, Florida, Tennessee,” he told the crowd.
As he has done throughout the campaign, Braun said his business experience equips him to lead the state. He doubled down on his campaign promises to cut government spending and pass a balanced budget.
“When you’re an entrepreneur by trade, you generally, if you survive, know how to pick the best fork in the road,” he said. “We can be guaranteed that we’re going to maintain great cash flow. … I had to do that for 37 years.
He heavily credited his family for supporting him through both his run for governor and U.S. Senate, calling his wife his “most stalwart supporter.” Braun said since moving back to Jasper, he has lived the American dream, being married to his wife, raising four kids and leading a business.
Dressed in his signature blue button-up with a grey sport coat, Braun continued to paint himself as an underdog, talking about his early doubters and longshot 2018 Senate run.
“I hope finally now, those that didn’t believe know [that] when I put my mind to it, I’m going to do it in an understated way,” he said. “I’m going to overperform and deliver results, and you can count on that.”
“I like Mike,” the crowd started chanting when Braun said he’d take the state to new heights near the close of his 15-minute speech.
Read IBJ’s full story on Braun’s victory here.
Republican Rep. Jim Baird won reelection to the U.S. House, where he represents Indiana’s 4th Congressional District.
The Associated Press called the race at 8:48 p.m. Tuesday with Baird carrying 66% of the vote, with 57% of ballots counted.
Baird, a decorated Army veteran who lost an arm during the Vietnam War, won his fourth term in the House. He defeated Democrat Derrick Holder, a Marine Corps veteran.
Baird, who owns a farming operation and two other small businesses, joined dozens of other Republicans in signing a brief in Texas’ lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results and has voted to support Israel. Holder campaigned on support for health care access, veterans’ affairs, agriculture and increased education funding, particularly for infrastructure.
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8:45 p.m.: Spartz, Shreve declared winners in U.S. House races
Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz won reelection to the U.S. House representing Indiana’s 5th Congressional District on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, which declared the race.
Meanwhile, Republican Jefferson Shreve won election to the U.S. House seat representing Indiana’s 6th District.
Shreve, a former member of the Indianapolis City Council who was defeated in the city’s mayoral election last year, defeated teacher Cynthia Wirth, a Democrat. Wirth unsuccessfully ran for the seat in 2022 against Republican incumbent Rep. Greg Pence, the older brother of former Vice President Mike Pence.
Greg Pence chose not to seek a fourth term.
Shreve campaigned on a platform of finishing the U.S.-Mexican border wall to stem illegal migration and said excessive federal spending is driving inflation. The Associated Press declared Shreve the winner at 8:37 p.m. EST.
Spartz won a third term over Democrat Deborah Pickett. A certified public accountant, Spartz is a fiscal conservative who believes federal spending should be cut.
Spartz, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine 20 years ago, said she believes the country’s current immigration process is “too expensive and bureaucratic.”
Pickett campaigned on holding elected leaders accountable, fully funding social services, protecting natural resources, and properly funding, equipping and training the military.
8:20 p.m.: Lopez leading McNally in Indiana House race
Republican Danny Lopez holds a 53% to 47% lead over Democrat Matt McNally in the race for Indiana House District 39 with 85% of the vote counted in Hamilton County.
House District 39 covers areas of Carmel and Westfield. The seat opened this year after longtime Republican State Rep. Jerry Torr announced his retirement after 28 years at the Statehouse.
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8:05 p.m. Messmer, Stutzman win U.S. House seats
Mark Messmer, the former Indiana state Senate majority leader, won a seat in Congress on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Erik Hurt for the 8th District post left by retiring Rep. Larry Bucshon.
Meanwhile, Republican Marlin Stutzman won election to a U.S. House seat representing Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District.
The Associated Press called both races early Tuesday night.
Stutzman, who previously held the seat from 2010 to 2017, reclaimed it with a win over educator and nonprofit executive Kiley Adolph, a Democrat.
Stutzman succeeds Rep. Jim Banks, who was the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in Indiana.
Republicans are favored to win seven of the state’s nine congressional districts.
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7:20 p.m.: McCormick campaign says AP has called race for Braun too early
The AP has called Indiana’s gubernatorial race for Republican Mike Braun. But with just 16% of the vote counted, IBJ is waiting to declare a winner.
With 16% of the vote counted, Braun had 58% of the vote to McCormick’s 38%, according to the AP. But those results don’t include most of the state’s Democratic-leaning counties. In addition, McCormick and Braun are essentially even in Hamilton County, with 65% of the vote counted.
The AP makes its calls based at least in part on exit polling.
Mila Myles, a spokeswoman for the McCormick campaign, said the call from the AP for Braun came too early. She said voters are still voting in Allen, Lake and Vanderburgh counties where there were lines to cast ballots at 6 p.m. Under Indiana law, polling sites must let voters are in line at 6 p.m. vote.
“This race is not over yet, and we’re in for a long night,” Myles told reporters.
Gov. Eric Holcomb released a statement Tuesday congratulating Braun. “As we run through the tape during these last two months of my term, our administration, like all those before me, will provide the support Gov.-Elect Braun needs to ensure a smooth transition for our great state and most importantly the citizens that call Indiana home,” he said.
At the GOP’s watch party at the JW Marriott, the crowd appeared largely unfazed when two large TV screens showed FOX 59 calling the race for Braun.
It was not until the second or third time a check mark was shown by his name that the crowd accepted that he had been declared the winner—just over an hour after most polls closed in the state.
The cheers and applause grew louder as more turned from their conversations to the screen.
7:10 p.m.: Banks wins Senate seat
U.S. Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana will be swapping U.S. Congress chambers after assertively winning his Senate race Tuesday.
Banks will replace Sen. Mike Braun, who is running for governor, and will join fellow Republican Sen. Todd Young in representing Indiana in the U.S. Senate.
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7 p.m.: Polls close in northwest, southwest Indiana
The polls have officially closed across all of Indiana—except in places where voters were waiting line at 6 p.m. local time.
Most of Indiana is in the Eastern time zone. Southwest and northwest Indiana are in the central time zone, meaning polls there close an hour later.
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6:55 p.m.: Braun leads in very early returns, but McCormick is even in Hamilton County
Very early returns—just 10% of ballots counted—Republican Mike Braun is leading Democrat Jennifer McCormick with 56% of the vote.
But those totals don’t include any votes counted in the state’s Democratic strongholds of Indianapolis, Lake County and Monroe County.
And in Hamilton County, McCormick is leading—barely. With 65% of the vote counted, McCormick had 49.6% of the vote to Braun’s 48.3%. Those totals are likely to represent mostly absentee and early votes.
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6:30 p.m.: Hamilton County Democrats file complaint
The Hamilton County Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Hamilton County Election Board after several polling sites did not open on time Tuesday morning.
At least six polling sites in the county did not open until between 6:15 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. due to problems with the ePollBooks voter check-in technology, according to the party.
“The polls in Hamilton County did not open on time at 6 a.m. local time as required by state law, and an unknown number of voters were disenfranchised and walked away. We want to make sure every registered Indiana voter has the ability to fairly and equally cast their ballot, and that was not the case this morning,” Indiana Democratic Party Executive Director Dayna Colbert said in a written statement.
“Everyone who was unable to vote this morning or because of the long lines the backup created throughout the day should not be disenfranchised of their constitutional right to cast a ballot and vote in this election because of a technical error.”
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6:05 p.m.: Polls close in central Indiana
Polls in central Indiana are now closed, though voters could still be in line.
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6 p.m.: Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site sees record number of voters
Poll workers said the previous record came in the 2016 election, with 805 votes cast. About 100 people voted per hour during the first three hours of the polls being open, workers said.
5:05 p.m.: Secretary of State Diego Morales: Election ‘safe and secure’
Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales said he has been out touring polls and vote-tabulation centers across the state, making stops in South Bend, Fort Wayne and Lafayette before a visit to Marion County’s absentee-vote-counting center on the city’s east side.
Morales, who last month made headlines for saying his office planned to review the citizenship status of nearly 600,000 Indiana voters, said he is confident in the security of the state’s elections.
He spent about 20 minutes at the Marion County site, speaking with poll watchers and individuals verifying ballots before they are counted. He said he voted with his wife earlier in the day.
“I’m happy to tell you that here in Indiana, we’re running safe and secure elections,” the first-term Republican told IBJ. “We have put in safeguards into our elections, and I’m happy to tell you that we are running safe, secure election. I want Indiana to be a model when it comes to elections.”
Morales said he believes the decision to review the status of some of the systems voters will help further the security of the state’s electoral systems. He added that he wants to increase voter turnout in the state.
“Listen, as a minority myself, I want every single eligible person to vote. That’s one of my goals, to increase voter turnout and voter participation,” he said, noting his status as the first Latino Secretary of State in Indiana’s history. “I want as many people, specifically the minority community, to be part of our election process. So that’s one of my commitments, and we’re going to continue to do that.”
Patrick Becker, director of elections for Marion County, said he thinks Morales’ decision to come out to the counting center was a nice gesture.
“We’re happy to have him here to come check out the operations, and he’s been here before,” Becker said. “I think it’s nice that he wants to come in and check in and see how things are going and keep folks’ morale up. I’m sure it’s nice to see hundreds of thousands of ballots being opened and seeing the large operation.”
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4:45 p.m. Latest voting numbers for Marion County
More than 160,000 people have voted so far at dozens of polling locations across Indianapolis and the county’s unincorporated towns on Tuesday, the Marion County Board of Elections officials told IBJ.
Patrick Becker, director of elections for the county, said few problems have been reported with voting machines at the locations, nor have there been any major disputes amongst voters waiting to cast their ballots.
“Things at the sites have been really smooth,” he said. “We’ve been partnering with folks within the City-County enterprise to make sure from an IT perspective, and from a public safety and emergency response perspective, that we’re ready to go. … No election day goes without any bumps or hiccups, but all in all it’s been a really good day.”
Polls close at 6 p.m., but anyone in line at that time will be permitted to vote, Becker said.
As of 4:30 p.m., more than 56,000 of the county’s estimated 165,000 absentee ballots, which includes mail-in and early voting, have been counted, he said.
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2:45 p.m.: Nearly half of Indy’s registered voters have cast ballots
About 139,000 Marion County voters had voted by 2 p.m. on Election Day—four hours before the polls were set to close. About 170,000 Marion County voters voted early or by mail.
That means about 49% of the county’s registered voters have cast their ballot. The county had 59% turnout in 2020 and 52% in 2016.
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11:55 a.m. Big early turnout in Hamilton County
The county received 98,081 votes at early voting sites and 19,828 absentee ballots for a total of 117,909 votes. The county said anyone who has an absentee ballot and has not yet returned it yet must do so in person before 6 p.m. at the Election Office.
This year’s early-turnout vote nearly matched that of 2020, when 98,465 early votes were received. Absentee ballot returns were much higher, however during the pandemic, at 44,376.
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9:05 a.m.: Wait times at polling places vary
According to the IndyVoteTimes.org, mid-morning wait times at Indianapolis-area polling sites ranged significantly.
At about 9 a.m., the crowdsourced site reported that waiting times were just a few minutes at several polling places, including the Eagle Creek Golf Training Building at 8802 W. 56th St., but more than an hour in a few spots, including at Eastbrook Elementary School, 7625 New Augusta Road.
The website provides wait times based on reports from users.
You can report the wait time you see at your polling site by clicking here.
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8:15 a.m.: Early in-person voting higher in Indy than 2020
About 170,000 Marion County voters cast their votes early this year.
Of that, 133,727 voted early at a polling location, which surpasses the 2020 election by over 3,000 people.
Of the 32,173 absentee mail ballots sent out, 27,381 have been returned.
The Marion County Clerk’s Office expects more to be returned by 6 p.m. Election Day.
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8 a.m.: Election Day voting is underway
After a busy early voting season, Hoosiers have one final chance to cast their vote in a chock-full election cycle.
Polls opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 6 p.m. Open and nearby voting centers can be found online.
The line to sign in is almost around the block here in Fountain Square. I got here at 6 and am now in the second line to vote pic.twitter.com/wSVQMR4ppd
— Alexa Shrake (@alexashrake901) November 5, 2024
Long lines were observed during the four weeks of early voting, but wait times were expected to be shorter with more polling places open Tuesday. A website is offering crowdsourced wait times, too, if you’re on a time crunch.
As of Monday, more than 1.5 million Hoosiers had cast ballots through absentee and early voting.
At the top of the ticket, former President Donald Trump is seeking to regain the presidency, while Vice President Kamala Harris is hoping to keep her party’s footing in the Oval Office and become the first female president.
The most competitive Indiana race is likely between Republican Sen. Mike Braun and Democrat Jennifer McCormick. Braun started with a lead, but the race has appeared to tighten up over the last two months in McCormick’s favor.
Attorney General Todd Rokita is also seeking to retain his office against Democratic challenger Destiny Wells. The two have sparred in a chippy back-and-forth throughout the campaign season and offer differing opinions on the authority and direction of the legal office.
Hoosiers will also sift through a number of candidates seeking to represent them in the Indiana Statehouse and U.S. Congress (including an open Senate seat).
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