Election updates: Kirchhofer loses reelection; Qaddoura declared winner

IBJ will be tracking Tuesday’s election and voting tabulations on Tuesday night (and throughout the week, as needed). Check back often for details.

12 p.m. Thursday

Kirchhofer loses reelection bid

Republican incumbent Cindy Kirchhofer has lost her reelection bid to Democrat Mitch Gore.

The Associated Press declared Gore the winner on Thursday morning. Kirchhofer, who has been in office since 2010, is also the chairwoman of the Marion County Republican Party.

Gore is a captain with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

House District 89 includes parts of the east side of Indianapolis, including Beech Grove.

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9:10 p.m. Wednesday

AP declares Qaddoura winner; still too close for Kirchhofer race

As the final votes have been tallied in Hamilton County, and Marion County officials have finished counting for the night, the Associated Press has declared Democrat Fady Qaddoura the winner over Republican incumbent John Ruckelshaus in Senate District 30.

But in House District 89, the race is still too close to call between Republican incumbent Cindy Kirchhofer and Democrat Mitch Gore.

The latest results showed Gore with 13,651 votes and Kirchhofer with 13,024.

Marion County still has about 12,000 ballots left to count on Thursday, but it’s unclear how many of those are in this district, which includes Beech Grove.

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8:45 p.m, Wednesday

AP declares Spartz winner in 5th District

As of Wednesday evening—with most of the votes counted—Republican Victoria Spartz had a lead of nearly 18,000 votes over Democrat Christina Hale. The Associated Press declared her the winner around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Read our full story here.

Spartz’s campaign had declared victory on Tuesday night. But with more than 100,000 uncounted ballots remaining in Hamilton and Marion counties at the time, Hale refused to concede.

Hamilton and Marion counties continued counting early votes on Wednesday and Spartz maintained her lead.

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8:20 p.m. Wednesday

Qaddoura still leads Ruckelshaus

In Indiana Senate District 30, Democrat Fady Qaddoura continues to lead the race over Republican incumbent John Ruckelshaus.

Senate District 30 includes part of northern Marion County and southern Hamilton County and is known for having voters who are willing to split their ticket and support candidates of both political parties.

Ruckelshaus was first elected to the seat in 2016 with 51% of the vote, even as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won the district.

As of Wednesday night, Qaddoura was up by 3,821 votes. It’s unclear how many uncounted votes remain in the race.

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8:06 p.m. Wednesday

Still no winner declared in 5th District

Results in Marion and Hamilton counties continue to come in, but a winner has still not been declared in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District race between Republican Victoria Spartz and Democrat Christina Hale.

The latest results show Spartz with a lead of nearly 18,000 votes over Hale. It’s unclear exactly how many uncounted ballots remain in this district.

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7:12 p.m. Wednesday

Democrat takes the lead in Indiana House District 89 race

Democratic candidate Mitch Gore has taken the lead in the Indiana House District 89 race over incumbent Republican Cindy Kirchhofer.

The latest results from Marion County show Gore with a 590 vote lead over Kirchhofer.

Gore is a captain with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

House District 89 includes parts of the east side of Indianapolis, including Beech Grove.

Marion County officials have less than 20,000 votes left to count. Another update is expected around 9 p.m.

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4:15 p.m. Wednesday

Kirchhofer up by 4 votes in Statehouse race

The latest update of results from Marion County show only a four vote difference between the candidates in Indiana House District 89.

Republican incumbent Cindy Kirchhofer had 10,396 votes while Democratic challenger Mitch Gore had 10,392 votes.

Marion County officials still have about 65,000 ballots to count. Another update is expected Wednesday evening.

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4 p.m. Wednesday

5th District margin shrinks slightly

In Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, Republican candidate Victoria Spartz’s lead over Democratic candidate Christina Hale has dropped to about 18,000 votes, according to the latest totals from the Associated Press.

Spartz had close to 194,000 votes while Hale had nearly 176,000 votes, as of late Wednesday afternoon while early absentee ballots were still being counted in Hamilton and Marion counties.

Prior results showed Spartz up by about 24,000 votes.

The AP has not projected a winner in the race yet.

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2 p.m. Wednesday

5th District campaigns quiet

As votes continue to be tallied in Marion and Hamilton counties, the results in Indiana’s 5th Congressional race remain unclear.

Neither campaign has made public comments on Wednesday.

Read more about what we know so far in that hotly contested race here.

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1:45 p.m. Wednesday

Kirchhofer, Ruckelshaus races still too close to call

Two Indianapolis-area Statehouse seats remain too close to call as ballot counting continued Wednesday afternoon.

The latest results in the Senate District 30 race between Republican incumbent John Ruckelshaus and Democrat Fady Qaddoura showed Qaddoura in the lead by about 1,800 votes.

In House District 89, Republican incumbent Cindy Kirchhofer had a lead of about 380 votes over Democratic challenger Mitch Gore as of Wednesday afternoon.

Both seats are within Marion County, which is still counting tens of thousands of ballots. Senate District 30 also includes part of Hamilton County, and ballot counting is ongoing there, as well.

Hamilton County officials expect to share another batch of results around 3 p.m., and Marion County officials expect to do the same around 3:30 p.m.

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12 p.m. Wednesday

Young, Sandlin win reelection

The New York Times has called the Indiana Senate District 36 race for Republican incumbent Jack Sandlin and the Senate District 35 for Republican incumbent Mike Young.

Sandlin, a former police officer and president of JS Consulting Inc., was first elected in 2016 with 59% of the vote. He defeated Democrat Ashley Eason to win a second term. The district includes most of downtown Indianapolis, but also stretches south into Johnson County.

Young, an attorney, has been a state senator since 2000, and prior to that he served 14 years in the Indiana House.

Democrats tried to paint him as out-of-touch with the district and believed they had a strong candidate this year with Pete Cowden, who is an Army veteran and veteran’s service officer for the Wayne Township Trustee’s Office.

The district includes the southwest side of Indianapolis and parts of Hendricks County.

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11:45 a.m. Wednesday

Majority of Marion County votes cast early

More votes were cast early in Marion County than on Election Day, according to Marion County Deputy Clerk Russell Hollis.

About 178,000 ballots were cast on Tuesday, compared to more than 213,600 that were cast during early voting.

Hollis said counting the remaining 99,000 early absentee ballots is likely to continue through Thursday and possibly Friday.

About 150 people are counting the Marion County ballots today.

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10:15 a.m. Wednesday

Hamilton County processing ballots, but no results released yet

Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Williams said ballots are being counted this morning, but updated results have not been released yet.

That’s because in order to run the results and release numbers, the counting has to stop, which delays the entire process, Williams said.

“My preference is to just let the canvassers keep working and do fewer reports throughout the day,” Williams said in an email. “But I understand you want numbers as well.”

As of Tuesday night, the county still had about 30,000 ballots remaining.

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9:50 a.m. Wednesday

Thousands of ballots in Indy to be counted today

Marion County election officials are expected to continue counting ballots at 10 a.m. As of Tuesday night, the county still had about 99,000 ballots to count.

In Hamilton County, counting is also continuing Wednesday morning. Election officials ended Tuesday with about 30,000 ballots left to count.

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9:30 a.m. Wednesday

AP officially calls several Statehouse races for Republican incumbents 

Several Indianapolis-area Republican lawmakers will maintain their seats, according to race results from the Associated Press.

The AP has called the following races:

• Senate District 32 for Republican Aaron Freeman over Democrat Belinda Drake
• House District 39 for Republican Jerry Torr over Democrat Ashley Klein
• House District 29 for Republican Chuck Goodrich over Democrat Mike Vick
• House District 88 for Republican Chris Jeter over Democrat Pam Dechert

As of Wednesday morning, the AP had not called the races in Senate District 36 between Republican incumbent Jack Sandlin and Democrat Ashley Eason, Senate District 35 between Republican incumbent Mike Young and Democrat Pete Cowden, Senate District 30 between Republican incumbent John Ruckelshaus and Democrat Fady Qaddoura, House District 89 between Republican incumbent Cindy Kirchhofer and Democrat Mitch Gore.

All of those races include parts of Marion County, which still had about 99,000 votes to count on Wednesday.

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12:13 a.m. 

Mrvan, Walorski win congressional races

Democrat Frank Mrvan won election Tuesday to replace retiring Rep. Pete Visclosky in Indiana’s 1st Congressional District, a traditional northwestern Indiana stronghold for Democrats. Mrvan topped Republican nominee Mark Leyva and Libertarian nominee Edward Mike Strauss.

Meanwhile, Republican Jackie Walorski won reelection to Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District, defeating Democrat Pat Hackett. Walorski was seeking her fifth term.

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11:13 p.m. 

Hollingsworth repeats win in 9th Congressional District

Republican Trey Hollingsworth has won reelection to the U.S. House in Indiana’s 9th Congressional District, according to The Associated Press. Hollingsworth, 37, who was seeking his third term, had a huge lead against Democrat Andy Ruff late Tuesday night.

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11 p.m. 

Weinzapfel concedes to Rokita

Jonathan Weinzapfel has conceded the attorney general race to Todd Rokita, who declared victory earlier this evening.

“I want to congratulate Attorney General-elect Todd Rokita on his victory,” Weinzapfel said in written comments. “While we are disappointed in the outcome, I could not be more proud of the effort we made and the issues we raised. As you’ve heard me say before, I entered this race because I didn’t like the direction the incumbent attorney general was taking our state. We ran in response to his embarrassing personal behavior and partisan lawsuits that only hurt Hoosier families. We can restore honor, integrity and prupose to the office.”

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10:56 p.m.

Spartz declares victory 

Congresswoman Susan Brooks appears alongside Victoria Spartz at her campaign event in Carmel and declares her the winner.

Brooks said the party knows votes are still out, including early votes that have yet to be counted in Hamilton County, but they’re confident in the numbers.

“We know we’re still counting the vote, but we feel we’re on good track to win,” Spartz said.

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10:50 p.m.

An update on Statehouse races 

State Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, has opened up an 8-point lead over his Democratic opponent, Ashley Klein, although Hamilton County still has early votes it has not counted.

And Democrat challenger Fady Qaddoura had a slim lead over Republican Sen. John Ruckelshaus, a Republican who is finishing his first term in the Legislature. With only about 56% of votes counted, Qaddoura was winning the Senate District 30 race with 51% of the vote and a lead of less than 1,000 votes.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, and Rep. Donna Schaibley, R-Carmel, won reelection over their Democratic challengers.

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10:20 p.m. 

Hale not ready to concede 

Republican Victoria Spartz has opened up a 6-percentage-point lead over Democrat Christina Hale, with about 73% of the vote counted.

However, many of the votes that were yet to be tallied appeared to be in Marion County, where Hale had been leading.

Spartz, a state senator, had 51% of the vote to Hale’s 45% of the vote, according to Associated Press results at 10 p.m. Libertarian Kenneth Tucker had 4%.

Spartz planned to make a statement at 10:30 p.m. But Hale was not ready to concede the race. At 10:19 p.m., her campaign sent a statement saying that “we remain confident about our path to victory.”

“There are still tens of thousands of mail-in votes in the Fifth District that have not yet been counted, particularly in Marion and Hamilton counties, where we have done a significant amount of voter outreach over these past few months,” the statement said. “This race is not over and we will continue to monitor vote totals before making any formal announcements. The circumstances of this election are unprecedented with a record number of people voting early and by absentee ballot, and we want to make sure that all Hoosiers have their voices heard in this process.”

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10:15 p.m.

Huston says he’s excited for another term

Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston, who is the projected winner for House District 37 over Democratic challenger Aimee Rivera Cole, said it “was awesome” to talk to Fishers residents during the course of the campaign.

“I knew it would be a competitive race,” Huston said. “I think it was a competitive race and I’m happy to win and appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve.”

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10:10 p.m. 

Holcomb, Crouch say they’re ready for four more years

Speaking to supporters at the JW Marriott, Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb said he knows he has a lot of work to do over the next four years.

Holcomb is the projected winner in the race over Democratic challenger Woody Myers and Libertarian candidate Donald Rainwater. Both Myers and Rainwater have conceded.

In his victory speech, Holcomb mostly thanked his family, state employees, cabinet members and campaign staff.

He talked about some of his accomplishments over his first term, including investments in infrastructure and K-12 education while maintaining balanced budgets.

But he said he’s ready to “get busy” on a second term.

“Let’s get busy building one Indiana for all,” Holcomb said.

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10:05 p.m. 

Spartz has strengthened her lead over Hale 

Republican Victoria Spartz has opened up a 6-percentage-point lead over Democrat Christina Hale, with about 73% of the vote counted.

However, many of the votes that were yet to be tallied appeared to be in Marion County, where Hale had been leading.

Spartz, a state senator, had 51% of the vote to Hale’s 45% of the vote, according to Associated Press results at 10 p.m. Libertarian Kenneth Tucker had 4%.

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9:42 p.m.

Rokita declares victory 

Republican Todd Rokita has declared victory in the Indiana attorney general race.

Rokita, a former secretary of state and congressman, has captured 62% of the vote with 57% of precincts reporting. Democrat Jonathan Weinzapfel has 38%, according to the AP.

“I want to thank my fellow Hoosiers for the trust and confidence you have placed in me to serve as your next attorney general,” Rokita, who is quarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19, said in a written statement. “You know, our state has come so far under commonsense conservative leadership over the last 15 years. We have become a leader in the nation in every category that matters. Now, we must keep it that way.”

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9:39 p.m.

AP calls Indiana for Trump 

President Donald Trump is cruising to victory in Indiana over Joe Biden.

With about 59% of the vote tallied Tuesday night, Trump had captured 60% of the vote, compared with 38% by Democrat Joe Biden.

The Associated Press declared victory for Trump, who was among numerous Republicans to maintain their dominance in Indiana, including Gov. Eric Holcomb, who defeated Democrat Woody Myers.

“Once again Indiana is first on the board for President Trump and our own Hoosier Vice President Mike Pence,” Indiana Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer said in a written statement. “Indiana will be watching the national returns come in tonight and looking forward to four more years of the Trump-Pence administration!”

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9:35 p.m.

An update to a few Congressional races 

Democrat Andre Carson has defeated Republican Susan Smith in Indiana’s 7th Congressional District, according to The Associated Press. The seat has been held by a Democrat since Julia Carson was elected in 2002. Andre Carson succeeded his grandmother in the seat after her death in 2007.

Meanwhile, in the 5th District, Spartz has a small lead over Hale but the race remains too close to call.

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9:30 p.m. 

Myers concedes; Holcomb ready to speak

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Woody Myers has called Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb to concede.

Myers said he knew the race would be an uphill battle.

“I ran because I knew we could be better and that we could do more,” Myers said.

Holcomb is expected to speak momentarily at an event at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis. Supporters have filled the room and have started chanting “four more years.”

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9:20 p.m.

Hamilton County reports results for 218 of 221 precincts 

Hamilton County election officials have tallied votes from 218 of its 221 precincts, but they warned that about 30,000 absentee votes still need to be tabulated.

The closely watched 5th Congressional District race has stayed its course in Hamilton County, with Spartz garnering 56% of the vote to Hale’s 41%.

Republicans further down the ballot continued to outpace their Democrat challengers. In the auditor’s race, Mills had 63% of the vote by the evening’s third report to Roberts’ 37%.

The treasurer’s race saw Byer’s share increase to 63% of the vote, leaving Madore with 37% as of 8:52 p.m.

Heirbrandt also outpaced his newcomer opponent, Montgomery, to receive 62% of the vote. Montgomery had 38% as of the county’s third results report of the night.

The Hamilton County Council’s at-large race continued to see Republican candidates hold their leads, with Maki gaining  26% of votes, Beaver garnering 23% and Nation getting 22%. They outpace Democrats Schleich and Bink, who hold about 15% and 14% of the vote respectively.

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9:18 p.m. 

Pence recaptures 6th Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Greg Pence has been declared the winner in Indiana’s 6th Congressional District by The Associated Press, defeating Democrat Jeannine Lee Lake. Pence, the brother of Vice President Mike Pence, represents the district the vice president held from 2003 to 2013. He won his seat in 2018.

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9:15 p.m.

Baird victorious in 4th District

Republican Jim Baird has won reelection to the U.S. House in Indiana’s 4th Congressional District, The Associated Press declared Tuesday night. Baird, from Greencastle, faced Democratic challenger Joe Mackey, a retired machinist from Lafayette.

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9:10 p.m.

Speaker Huston up big; Torr down less than 100 votes

House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, appears to be cruising to an easy win over Democratic challenger Aimee Cole, despite a flood of advertising in the race.

With about two-thirds of votes counted, Huston had a 10-percentage-point lead over Cole in House District 37.

Across Hamilton County, however, incumbent Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, was losing to his Democratic challenger, Ashley Klein, by less than 100 votes with about 65% of totals reported.

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8:58 p.m.

Rainwater concedes governor’s race to Holcomb

Libertarian candidate Donald Rainwater has conceded the governor’s race to Republican incumbent Eric Holcomb.

Speaking to supporters at an election night event in Carmel, Rainwater said even though he didn’t win, his campaign sent a message that Hoosiers are not OK with big government.

He told supporters he wanted them to leave Tuesday night remembering “this is not good enough.”

“It won’t be good enough until we get control of our government back,” Rainwater said.

Rainwater had 12% of the vote—more than any Libertarian gubernatorial candidate has ever received in Indiana—with 45% reporting. But it is unclear whether that number includes absentee ballots.

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8:55 p.m. 

Myers still has not conceded governor’s race

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Woody Myers has not conceded the race to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, even though results continue to show Holcomb up by more than 20 points.

“We want to be certain, just like I’m sure the governor wants to be certain,” Myers campaign spokeswoman Lindsay Haake told IBJ.

According to Indiana Public Broadcasting, Holcomb is up with nearly 59% compared to Myers with close to 29%. Libertarian candidate Donald Rainwater has 12%. That is with 45% reporting, but it is unclear whether that includes absentee ballots.

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8:49 p.m. 

Bucshon takes 8th District again

Republican Larry Bucshon has won reelection to the U.S. House in Indiana’s 8th Congressional District, The Associated Press said Tuesday night. Bucshon, who has represented the district since 2011, had sizable leads over Democrat E. Thomasina Marsili and Libertarian Party nominee James Rodenberger.

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8:25 p.m.

Rokita ahead in attorney general race 

Republican Todd Rokita leads Democrat Jonathan Weinzapfel in the Indiana attorney general’s race with 37% of the vote in.

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8:15 p.m.

Suburban GOP lawmaker projected to win reelection

The New York Times is projecting that Republican state Rep. Donna Schaibley will win reelection to House District 24 over Democratic challenger Naomi Bechtold.

The NYT showed Schaibley with 57% over Bechtold’s 43%. It’s unclear what percentage of ballots that includes.

Indiana Public Broadcasting showed the same percentages for each candidate with 98% reporting, but it’s unclear if that includes absentee ballots.

The district includes portions of Carmel, Westfield and Zionsville.

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7:50 p.m.

Longtime GOP lawmaker behind in race

Republican state Rep. Jerry Torr is slightly behind his Democratic opponent Ashley Klein in the race for Indiana House District 39.

The district includes most of Carmel.

Torr has 49.2% while Klein has 50.8% with 59% of the votes counted, but it is unclear whether that includes absentee ballots.

The race is expected to be close as demographics have shifted in the northern suburbs. Torr has been in office since 1996.

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7:45 p.m.

AP calls Republican Banks winner in Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District

Republican Jim Banks will win reelection to the U.S. House in Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District, The Associated Press said Tuesday night. Based on early returns, Banks had a sizable lead over Democrat Chip Coldiron.

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7:37 p.m.

Trump has big lead in Indiana in early returns

Early returns show incumbent President Donald Trump with a big lead over Democrat Joe Biden in Indiana—and some news organizations have even projected him the winner here.

With 12% of the vote counted, CNN has Trump up 67% to Biden’s 31%. But none of the state’s Democratic strongholds are reporting votes yet, including Marion and Lake counties.

So for the moment, we’re waiting before declaring to whom Indiana’s electors will be voting for.

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7:28 p.m. 

Hamilton County Republicans start night strong 

Roughly 111,000 mail-in and absentee votes have been counted in Hamilton County, and Republicans are seeing early leads in each of their races. It’s unclear how many mail-in and absentee ballots were cast in Hamilton County.

The three candidates with the most votes secure a seat in Hamilton County Council’s at-large race, and early results from Tuesday night show Republicans are leading the pack. Republican newcomer Sue Maki of Carmel; incumbent Brad Beaver of Noblesville; and newcomer Steve Nation of Noblesville had received the most votes as of 6:43 pm Tuesday night, before any day-of votes were tallied.

Maki received 25.56%, Beaver received 21.59% and Nation received 20.43%. Democrats Victor Scleich and Gardiner Bink are trailing with 16.54% and 15.87%, respectively.

Incumbent Republican Mark Heirbrandt was beating Democratic challenger Dan Montgomery in the race for the Hamilton County Commissioner District 3, as of the first report. Heirbrandt had received 57.13% to Montgomery’s 42.87%.

In the treasurer’s race, Republican Susan Byer has received 57.85% to Democrat Jake Madore’s 42.15%.

Robin Mills, the incumbent Republican county auditor, was beating her opponent, Democrat Michael Roberts. Mills received 57.65% and Roberts received 42.35%.

In the surveyor’s race, incumbent Republican Kenton Ward received 56.32% and Democrat Brad Beer received 43.68%.

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7:10 p.m.

Projections show Holcomb wins Indiana governor’s race

Multiple national news outlets have projected Republican incumbent Eric Holcomb as the winner in the Indiana governor’s race with less than 10% of the vote counted.

The Associated Press and The New York Times both made the calls even before votes in Democratic strongholds including Marion and Lakes counties were counted, although Holcomb was expected to win the race easily.

Read our story here.

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6:30 p.m.

GOP chair denies rumor Holcomb would move state back to earlier stage of reopening 

The Indiana GOP event tonight that is expected to feature speeches from Gov. Eric Holcomb and Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch was also supposed to include attorney general candidate Todd Rokita.

Rokita’s campaign announced Tuesday afternoon that he has tested positive for COVID-19, so he is monitoring results from home with his family.

Indiana Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer said the last time he had contact with Rokita was “well over a week ago.”

Hupfer said Rokita didn’t get the results until today.

As for the governor’s race, Hupfer said he didn’t know if a winner would be declared tonight, but he thinks Holcomb’s message as resonated with Hoosiers.

Hupfer also denied rumors that if Holcomb wins reelection he will move the state back to an earlier stage of the reopening plan this week.

“There’s no plan for that,” Hupfer said.

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6:10 p.m.

GOP separates guests from media at party

The Indiana Republican Party event at the JW includes a separate room for speeches, where the media is allowed to set up. Guests of the event are in a separate room elsewhere in the hotel.

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6 p.m.

Polls close in central Indiana

Polls in central Indiana and around most of the state (except counties in the Central time zone) have now closed. Voters who were in line at 6 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

Hamilton County expects to release its first summary of results at 6:30 p.m.

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5:15 p.m.

Early vote counting underway

Marion County officials say that by roughly 5 p.m., they had counted about 57,000 of the 213,612 votes cast early by mail and in person.

Votes cast on Tuesday won’t be counted until the polls close at 6 p.m.

And officials that it might take until tomorrow to finish counting the early votes.

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2:30 p.m.

HamCo voter turnout at nearly 70% with hours left to vote

Here’s a turnout update from Hamilton County, via IBJ North of 96th reporter Kurt Christian:

County election officials have received about 95% of the 46,787 absentee ballots that voters requested.

Also, by 1 p.m., 40,128 people had voted in-person.

Beth Sheller, the county’s elections administrator, said that brings voter turnout to to 69.6% as of just after 1 p.m.

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2:09 p.m

Voting sites have little to no wait

Polling sites across much of central Indiana are reporting waits of less than an hour—and in a few cases, no lines at all—as thousands of voters head to the polls to cast ballots for president, governor, congress, legislators, county officials and school board members.

As of late morning, voters at the polling site at Garfield Park on the city’s near-south side waited about 40 minutes to vote. The line snaked around the gym inside the Burrello Family Center, with voters socially distanced, aided by cones placed every six feet.

Voters who arrived shortly after the polls opened at Indy Honda in Perry Township also waited about one hour and 40 minutes, but by midday, the line there had all but vanished.

At 2 p.m., a website tracking wait times reported a seven-minute wait at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, one minute at Lugar Towers in Mass Ave, and 12 minutes at St Roch Parish Life Center. In all, Marion County voters can cast ballots at any of 187 vote centers across the city.

The Election Day voting comes after more than 1.7 million people across Indiana voted early—either by mail-in ballot or at an in-person location. Still, about one million more will be voting today if the turnout is to equal 2016’s election—although many experts expect even more.

Across the nation, at least 98.1 million people had voted early, or just shy of 71% of the nearly 139 million ballots cast during the 2016 presidential election, according to data collected by The Associated Press. Given that a few states, including Texas, had already exceeded their total 2016 vote count, experts are predicting record turnout this year.

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2:05 p.m.

Rokita tests positive for coronavirus

Todd Rokita, the Republican candidate for attorney general, buried the lead in a release his campaign sent out Tuesday afternoon saying that he will be staying home with his family to watch election returns.

In the alert, headlined “ADVISORY: Todd Rokita Election Night Location,” the campaign said Rokita will be watching election returns from home.

Why not at the GOP party at the JW Marriott?

“Todd was informed by a person unconnected to any campaign activities that he was exposed to COVID-19. As a result, he and his family have been quarantining following the state’s guidelines,” the statement said. “Todd just recently tested positive after developing some symptoms. He is doing well and working from home.”

Rokita is facing Democrat Jonathan Weinzapfel, the former mayor of Evansville.

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2 p.m.

Everything you need to know about voting today

IBJ political reporter Lindsey Erdody has put together everything you need to know about voting today and what to expect as returns start rolling in tonight (and tomorrow and …).

Check out her Q&A here.

Plus check back here throughout the day for updates.