Candidate filing for Indiana’s May primary is closed.
Both parties will have primaries for the U-S Senate in 2020. Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott, civil rights attorney Haneefah Khaaliq and psychologist Valerie McCray are seeking the Democratic nomination against Senator Todd Young. Young has his own primary challenger in accountant Danny Niederberger. Both McDermott and Niederberger lost U-S House primaries two years ago, with McDermott losing by five points to now-Representative Frank J. Mrvan, and Niederberger finishing 11th in a 15-way primary for the seat eventually won by Representative Victoria Spartz.
The most closely watched election in the primary is likely to be the Ninth Congressional District in southeast Indiana, where Republican incumbent Trey Hollingsworth is retiring. Nine Republicans are running to replace him, including Salem State Senator Erin Houchin, Salem State Representative J. Davisson, and former Congressman Mike Sodrel.
Hollingsworth’s exit defused a pair of incumbent vs. incumbent primaries for the General Assembly. Redistricting placed Houchin and Davisson in the same district as fellow incumbents — Davisson had filed for reelection against Seymour Representative Jim Lucas before pulling out to run for Congress. Five other seats with double-bunked incumbents also avoided primary battles when at least one of the two retired. But at least two incumbent representatives will lose their seats to redistricting. Representatives Curt Nisly of Milford and Craig Snow of Warsaw will face each other in a Republican primary. And Bloomfield Republican Jeff Ellington moved out of his redrawn district, setting up a primary with Jasonville Representative Bruce Borders.
Mrvan and U-S Representatives Jim Baird (R-4th), Greg Pence (R-6th) and Andre Carson (D-7th) will face primary challengers.
Four former state representatives are seeking comebacks to the statehouse. Former Representative Melanie Wright (D-Yorktown) will be the Democratic nominee for an open Senate seat, while former Representative Matt Whetstone (R-Brownsburg) joined a five-way Republican primary for a newly created House seat. And Democratic Representatives Ross Deal and Lisa Beck are seeking rematches with Representatives Jake Teshka (R-South Bend) and Julie Olthoff (R-Crown Point). For Beck and Olthoff, it’ll be their third straight faceoff, with each candidate winning once in the last two elections.
Republicans will have contested races for 45 of the 125 House and Senate seats on the ballot, while Democrats will have nine.
