Republicans were set to keep their supermajority hold on the Indiana House, turning aside Democrats yet again in their attempts to gain a toehold of Statehouse influence.

Preliminary results available early Wednesday showed Republicans with enough apparent victories to retain at least 67 seats in the 100-member House.

Republicans, who entered this year’s campaign with a 70-30 House margin, captured a supermajority for the seventh straight election.

GOP candidates won key races in the northern Indianapolis suburbs where Democrats have gained strength but have largely been unable to break through to election wins.

Danny Lopez and Hunter Smith won races for open seats in districts covering Carmel and Westfield. Republican Rep. Becky Cash of Zionsville, meanwhile, was locked in a tight race with Democrat Tiffany Stoner.

No state Senate seats changed parties in Tuesday’s election, so Republicans will keep their dominating 40-10 majority in the chamber.

House District 39: Lopez defeats McNally to hold GOP seat 

Republican Danny Lopez defeated Democrat Matt McNally for the open seat representing parts of Carmel and Westfield long held by retiring Republican Rep. Jerry Torr.

Lopez had 53.7% of the vote over McNally in the preliminary tallies.

Lopez, a Pacers Sports & Entertainment business executive and former senior staffer for Gov. Eric Holcomb, was a top candidate recruit for Republicans.

McNally, a retired Navy pilot who now flies for United Airlines, was making a second run for the seat after losing to Torr in 2022.

The House Republican Campaign Committee and the state GOP directed at least $345,000 toward the Lopez campaign. House Democrats gave about $100,000 to McNally.

House District 24: Ex-Colts player Smith holds seat for Republicans

Hunter Smith leaned into his celebrity as a former Indianapolis Colts punter to hold the open seat created with Republican Rep. Donna Schaibley’s retirement.

Smith won with about 56% of the vote over Josh Lowry, an attorney from Westfield. State Republicans pumped more than $200,000 into supporting Smith.

Lowry was trying to build on his name recognition in the district from his 2022 challenge to Republican Sen. Jim Buck.

House District 69: Lucas wins reelection, overcoming DWI arrest, other controversies

Republican Rep. Jim Lucas of Seymour won a seventh term by a wide margin despite his conviction last year on drunken driving charges and contentious social media posts.

Lucas received nearly 70% of the vote over Democrat Trish Whitcomb, the daughter of former Republican Gov. Edgar Whitcomb.

Whitcomb questioned Lucas’ fitness for office as she gave Lucas his toughest general election challenge since he first won the seat in 2012.

State Republicans backed Lucas financially during the primary but weren’t worried enough about his chances against Whitcomb to direct more money his way. 

House District 32: Democrat Garcia Wilburn wins second term

Democratic Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn narrowly won a second term in her district, which covers parts of northern Indianapolis, Fishers and Carmel, giving Democrats a toehold in the area’s House seats.

Garcia Wilburn received 52% of the vote over Republican Patricia Bratton, a slightly better margin than Garcia Wilburn had in the 2022 election.

State Republicans put more than $130,000 into Bratton’s campaign. Garcia Wilburn’s latest campaign finance filing showed her spending $216,000 this year.

House District 5: GOP’s DeVon keeps control of South Bend-area district

Republican Rep. Dale DeVon won with nearly 55% of the vote over Democrat Heidi Beidinger in a rematch of the 2022 election.

DeVon has survived some close calls in his six election wins in the district that’s centered on Granger and Mishawaka and faced a second challenge from Beidinger, a University of Notre Dame faculty member.

Beidinger raised about $230,000 by early October despite the race not being targeted by House Democrats. She outraised DeVon, who got a late $70,000 boost from state Republicans.

House District 62: Hall and Horrocks in close race for Bloomington-area seat 

Incomplete tallies early Wednesday showed Republican Rep. Dave Hall with a narrow lead over Democrat Thomas Horrocks.

Hall’s 50-vote win for his first term was the closest legislative race in the state two years ago for an unexpected Republican victory in the Democratic-leaning district that includes outlying parts of Bloomington and rural areas of Monroe, Brown and Jackson counties.

Horrocks, a pastor and National Guard chaplain, was a first-time candidate.

State Republican committees spent more than $500,000 to boost Hall’s campaign. That far outstripped the $13,000 state Democrats gave Horrocks, who saw the Indiana State Teachers Association’s PAC give him $65,000 over the past month.

House District 71: Tallies unavailable in Dant Chesser-Hawkins race

Only a small percentage of the vote was reported early Wednesday in the race between Democratic Rep. Wendy Dant Chesser and Republican Scott Hawkins.

The public corruption case against longtime Republican Party heavyweight and former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel was a key issue in this tightly contested legislative district.

Hawkins, a Jeffersonville City Council member, was set for a rematch of his narrow 2022 loss to Democratic Rep. Rita Fleming when she retired in May after six years in the House.

Democrats turned to Dant Chesser, a longtime area business leader, in hopes of holding the district that has trended more Republican in recent years. 

State GOP groups boosted Hawkins with at least $543,000 either given to his campaign or spent on his behalf. 

State Democrats directed more than $100,000 toward Dant Chesser, who also received nearly $60,000 from the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s political arm.

Dant Chesser worked to link Hawkins to Noel. Hawkins, meanwhile, attacked Dant Chesser on the school sports transgender issue that Republicans also raised against Democrats in other tight races.

House District 25: Narrow margin in Cash-Stoner race

Incomplete tallies early Wednesday showed Republican Rep. Becky Cash with 50.1% of the vote over Democrat Tiffany Stoner.

Cash won her first term two years ago with 53% of the vote and faced an aggressive challenge from Stoner in the northwestern Indianapolis suburbs that have been trending Democratic.

Cash ran TV ads attacking Stoner with claims she misrepresented herself as a moderate while accepting support from liberal groups that want “to allow boys in girls’ sports” and to “defund the police.”

Cash was among the handful of candidates backed by the hard-right Liberty Defense PAC who won Republican primaries in 2022. 

Spending by state Republican committees to boost Cash’s bid for a second term has reached $220,000. State Democrats supported Stoner with at least $59,000. She also reported about $50,000 in contributions from the ISTA’s PAC.

Undetermined races include 2 Democratic incumbents

Democratic Reps. Pat Boy of Michigan City and Charles Moseley of Portage were locked in tight races, according to incomplete tallies early Wednesday.

The House Republican Campaign Committee pumped about $65,000 into the campaign for Boy’s challenger Joel Florek during October.

Tom Davies is a Statehouse reporter for State Affairs Pro Indiana. Reach him at [email protected] or on X @TomDaviesIND.

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