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Breaking: Beyond Headlines!

    • Jim Lucas retains seat, newcomer Danny Lopez wins Statehouse races
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    Jim Lucas retains seat, newcomer Danny Lopez wins Statehouse races

    Umito Posted on

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    Democrats appear unlikely to break the supermajority in the Statehouse, even if some of the most competitive races remain uncontested.

    State Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, successfully defended his seat against Democrat Trish Whitcomb with a landslide victory.

    In House District 39, representing Carmel, Republican Danny Lopez defeated Democrat Matt McNally by a 7-point margin in unofficial results, with almost all votes counted.

    Meanwhile, in House District 62, representing Bloomington, incumbent Republican state Rep. Dave Hall narrowly holds off Democrat Thomas Horrocks by about 2 percentage points with 87 percent of votes counted.

    Many Statehouse districts held elections this year, but relatively few of them were actually competitive.

    Democrats have pinned their hopes on breaking Republicans’ supermajority in a few competitive congressional districts across the state. There are currently 70 Republicans in the House, and if Democrats gained four seats, Republicans would no longer have their two-thirds supermajority.

    As of Wednesday morning, it was not yet clear whether they had succeeded.

    Here are the races we watched in Central Indiana and across the state:

    Results of the 2024 presidential election: Live Election Day updates as Hoosiers head to the polls to vote for president and governor

    House Neighborhood 39

    Longtime state Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, is retiring after nearly 30 years in his seat.

    Republican Danny Lopez, head of communications for the Pacers, and Democrat Matt McNally, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, are vying for his place. The two men were separated by less than a percentage point for much of the night, but with 99 percent of the votes counted, Lopez beat McNally 53.7 percent to 46.3 percent.

    Lopez is no stranger to Republican politics in Indiana. Now chairman of the governor’s office, he served as chief of staff to Gov. Eric Holcomb and also worked for former U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Gov. Mitch Daniels.

    As a new candidate in 2022, McNally ran a remarkably close race against Torr, given Torr’s position in the Statehouse. Losing just 5 percentage points is what made this year’s election one to watch in purple Hamilton County.

    House Neighborhood 69

    Republican Rep. Jim Lucas has comfortably held his seat representing parts of Jackson, Bartholomew, Jennings, Scott and Washington counties since 2012. And he will continue to do so, winning Tuesday night over Democrat Trish Whitcomb by 69% to 31%. .

    Lucas has had no shortage of controversies that have rocked Republican leaders, including a history of post racist memes on social networks and plead guilty to driving a vehicle while intoxicated and leave the scene of the accident.

    This election season, he faced a challenger in Whitcomb, whose campaign is unapologetically an anti-Lucas. She is the daughter of former Republican Gov. Edgar D. Whitcomb, former executive director of the Indiana Retired Teachers Association and who previously managed Glenda Ritz’s successful 2012 campaign for public schools superintendent.

    House District 62

    Republican state Rep. Dave Hall is seeking to defend his seat that represents all of Brown County and parts of Monroe and Jackson counties.

    With 87% of the votes counted at 7:50 a.m., Hall leads his Democratic challenger Thomas Horrocks 51.1% to 48.9%. This represents less than 800 votes.

    Hall is a corn and soybean grower who also has his own crop insurance business. He won the seat in 2022 by less than a percentage point over his Democratic opponent, Penny Githens.

    Horrocks is a member of the Army National Guard and a former pastor.

    House District 71

    Former state Rep. Rita Fleming, D-Jeffersonville, barely defended her 2022 seat against Republican Scott Hawkins, a teacher and Jefferson City councilman who lost by fewer than 300 votes.

    Fleming, a moderate Democrat by today’s standards, resigned before her term ended this year. A group of party members chose Wendy Dant Chesser, legislative chair of the Indiana Economic Development Association, to serve out the remainder of her term.

    Dant Chesser faces both Hawkins and Libertarian Gregory Hertzsch of Clarksville, but few votes have been counted so far in the race.

    Indiana Voter’s Guide: Who is running for Congress, Statehouse, Governor, AG and School Board

    Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at [email protected] or follow her on X:@kayla_dwyer17

    Umito
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