House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, loses his post to Democrat Lauren Cole in the race for House District 37.
Her victory brings an end to Huston’s 6-year run where he oversaw milestone events like the 2025 redistricting attempt and a special session pertaining to abortion rights.
Huston has also represented district 37 since 2012.
—Olivia O’Neal, TheStatehouseFile.com
With upwards of 200,000 votes left to count, Bayh anticipates victory against Republican opponent Max Engling in the Secretary of State race.
“I want to commend my opponent, Max Engling. Campaigns are not easy. We should be grateful for his willingness to enter the arena. And we should remember that our political opponents are not enemies. They are fellow Hoosiers and fellow Americans,” he said in a speech at the Democratic Watch Party in downtown Indianapolis.
“The people of our state have been taken for great. Too many decisions have been made behind closed doors by insiders. Too many families have played by the rules for the people in the halls of power and played by a different set.”
He reminded voters of his promise to conduct an independent audit of the SOS office as his first order of business.
“This victory does not belong to any one man or any one political party. It belongs to every Hoosier, tired of being shut out.”
-Olivia O’Neal, TheStatehouseFile.com
Tuesday evening as the election results showed him trailing in the race for Indiana
secretary of state, Greg Ballard stood before his supporters and declared victory.
Ballard, running as the Lincoln Party candidate, garnered nearly 4% of the vote in the
2026 midterm, which clears a path for independent candidates to get on the ballot.
Since the Lincoln Party got more than 2% of the vote, Hoosiers wanting to seek public
office, but not as either a Republican or Democrat, can run under the Lincoln Party label and automatically be included on the ballot with the other parties’ candidates.
Currently, candidates who are not running as either a Republican, Democrat or
Libertarian must collect nearly 37,000 signatures from eligible Indiana voters just to get
on the ballot.
“Welcome to the beginning,” Ballard told his supporters at his campaign’s watch party in
downtown Indianapolis. “The start of a new day in Indiana politics.”
Lincoln Party candidates will not only give voters more choices at the ballot box, Ballard
said, but also provide serious competition in elections which will push the Republican
and Democratic parties to nominate better candidates.
Ballard credited his campaign with significantly changing the secretary of state’s race.
Without the challenge from the Lincoln Party, he said, the Republican incumbent Diego
Morales, who has been plagued by scandals, would have been renominated for a
second term. Also, no one would have had the “lengthy and substantive conversation
about partisanship” that exists in the secretary of state office, namely through the
political appointees to the Indiana Recount Commission and the Indiana Election
Commission.
Thanking his supporters, Ballard said, “Because of you, Hoosiers have a stronger,
healthier political future. When people run outside the Republican and Democratic
parties, citizens can start to trust their government again.”
The crowd at Ballard’s election day party was small, not filling all the chairs in the rented venue, but they were enthusiastic. They engaged in conversation with one another, nibbled on food from a buffet and did not seem to be paying close attention to the two television screens broadcasting the state and national results of the midterm election.
When Ballard delivered his remarks, the crowd clapped, cheered and gave him two
standing ovations.
Once the results showed Ballard was going to get 2% of the vote, his campaign
manager Nathan Gotsch addressed the crowd, saying with the Lincoln Party’s access to
the ballot, “a permanent challenge has been born” to the two-party politics that, he said,
has left Americans angrier and more divided.
“Because the Lincoln Party will now be able to run viable candidates for any office
across the state, every single elected official in Indiana, even those in so-called safe
seats, must now listen to their constituents if they want to get reelected or, possibly, face
the threat of a challenge form our party in their next general election,” Gotsch said.
—Marilyn Odendahl, The Indiana Citizen
Hamilton, with the help of fundraising team director, Reyn Croghan, spent the entire election cycle working with other candidates across the state to work to turn over the Indiana Republican supermajority. After a three-part series of information panels featuring both Hamilton and Secretary of State Candidate Beau Bayh, the team accomplished their goal.
“I’m at a loss of words. I don’t think it’s truly sunk in,” Croghan said. “But the fact that we just broke the supermajority in Indiana, it’s such a major success.”
As every democratic win is unveiled, Croghan, of Indianapolis, has been seen enthusiastically jumping with the other members of Hamilton’s team.
“I love that I represent Carey Hamilton,” Croghan said. “I’ve known her since I was 11, I would follow her off a cliff.”
-CJ Vantine, TheStatehouseFile.com
JD Ford is victorious in the House District 5 race, turning the seat held by Republican incumbent Victoria Spartz blue.
The current District 29 state senator is nearing the end of his term at the state capitol.
It was a race filled with ads of personal attacks, culminating in Spartz sending cease-and-desist letters over one of Ford’s attack advertisements that she claimed included AI images in its accusations over her finances. Spartz was first elected to Congress in 2020 and won re-election by a comfortable margin in 2024.
Ford’s campaign ran on plans to lower healthcare costs, support working families and increase the Democratic presence on Capitol Hill.
Republicans are celebrating at their watch party in downtown Indianapolis after Daniel Elliott wins the office of state treasurer.
“This fight is not done,” he said. “We have a job to do. And this next four years, we are going to focus even more on the people of Indiana, making sure we get conservative principles out there and make sure we get the work of Indiana done.”
Countless supporters surrounded the stage as Kelvis Williams walked up to accept his new position as Marion County Sheriff, but the first thing he did was call his wife, Charlotte, up to stand beside him.
Williams decided to run for his community, to spread his impact in more ways than he could as the executive officer of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
“I’m not a politician, I’m a 42 year law enforcement officer. I promise to be here for all the people, to build bridges, not walls,” Williams said.
Brigitte Battle and Renee King, both of Indianapolis, were among those cheering. They’ve supported Williams through his entire campaign, and specifically appreciate the work of his wife as a registered nurse.
“He will do anything, if you live next door or if you live across town,” Battle said. “He’s just a very nice and well informed man.”
Besides his apparent willingness to help, his supporters believe he has the expertise to make real change in the county that is home to the state capital.
“Violence will decrease and he will make sure that he builds a staff that cares for everyone and not just someone,” King said. “He doesn’t do things for likes, he does things because he believes in those things.”
–CJ Vantine, TheStatehouseFile.com
Since 1994, the republican party has had control of the Secretary of State. However, this Midterm election has been a battle between Republican candidate Max Engling and Democrat candidate Beau Bayh. Their campaigns have gotten heated as ads against one another threatened lawsuits.
In the midst of controversy, Republican voter, Josh Young, stands strong in his support for Max Engling in the Secretary of State race.
“Indiana is my home, and I don’t want to see Democrats take over Indiana.” said Young, “I don’t want to see the Bayh dynasty take the state house back.”
Some of Engling’s appeal comes from his strict voting stance, campaigning to stop crossover voting.
“He’s going to close the primaries, ensure that only Republicans are voting in Republican primaries, and the same for Democrats,” said Young.
-Bailee Kennedy
Around 8:15 p.m., Indiana Democrats are full of high hopes and cheers at the Hilton Indianapolis Hotel as the results of the 2026 midterm elections roll in. So far, District 46 has elected former Indianapolis teacher Allissa Impink as their new state senator.
Delaney and other speakers at tonight’s watch party are vouching to tear down the Republican supermajority in the Hoosier state.
“They’re living on a diet of hate,” said Rep. Ed Delaney, D-Indianapolis. “The American Public, I think, is tired of it.”
However, the party recognizes tonight means progress, no matter the results of the polls. Karen Tallian, chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, specifically spread the message to the youth in the Hilton’s Victory Ballroom.
“One election does not define you,” said Tallian. “If you’re serious about public service, remember that it does not end on election night. We still need you. You are the future of the party.
— CJ Vantine, TheStatehouseFile.com
The Indiana Democratic Party released a statement from Chair Karen Tallian when polls closed at 6 p.m.
“Tonight, Hoosiers made their voices heard,” she said. “From the first day of early voting to the last voter in line this evening, Democrats showed up. Hundreds of volunteers across the state knocked on tens of thousands of doors to get here, and I’m proud of every one of them. Now we must ensure every eligible ballot is counted.”
—Staff report
Greg Ballard is milling around the room, greeting supporters at his watch party in downtown Indianapolis.
Ballard has traveled an improbable journey to becoming a contender in the race for Indiana secretary of state, launching the new Lincoln Party and collecting more than 40,000 signatures in order to appear on the November ballot. Although polling has him trailing far behind the major party candidates, Republican Max Engling and Democrat Beau Bayh, Ballard is proud of his campaign.
“We ran the campaign we wanted to,” Ballard said. “We were above board, positive, talked about policy. We did it all the way through it as I said we would. It’s amazing the comments we got, especially in the last month, people who said, ‘Thank you for running the campaign the way you did.’”
—Marilyn Odendahl, The Indiana Citizen
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