By Olivia Mapes
Exponent editor-in-chief
May 7, 2026
In the Republican primary for Indiana U.S. House District 4, incumbent Rep. Jim Baird won the district in a landslide with 60.5% of the vote. The runner-up, current state Rep. Craig Haggard, earned 30.5% of the vote, according to the Indiana Secretary of State website.
Baird has represented Indiana’s Fourth Congressional District, which comprises 16 counties including all of Tippecanoe County, since 2019.
In November, Baird will face Democrat Drew Cox, a visiting professor of music at Purdue. The Democratic side of the primary was crowded, with eight candidates vying for the nomination, but Cox won with 30.3% of the vote — about 7.5% ahead of any other candidate.
Interim head of the Purdue political science department James McCann said these primaries have been marked by more enthusiasm in the Democratic Party, especially from grassroots organizations.
“Having started the campaign about a year ago, it’s wonderful knowing that all the hard work paid off,” Cox wrote in a statement. “I have had such an incredible group of mostly young volunteers that are now feeling very empowered. Our campaign is tackling the issue of young voter participation because we believe this solves a wide variety of issues that we face in society. At the end of the day, our shared motto is ‘People over Profits.’ Now the real work begins.”
The Exponent staff reporter Avery Goldthorpe contributed to this report.
The Purdue Exponent is the independent student media organization serving the Purdue University community. It is published by the Purdue Student Publishing Foundation, a non-profit educational organization. For questions about the story, contact the editor-in-chief, Olivia Mapes, at editor@purdueexponent.org.
