2nd Democrat plans Senate Dist. 22 challenge for Alting’s seat
Primaries coming on both ballots for Indiana Senate seat Sen. Ron Alting has held since 1999. Plus, Park East Blvd. extension opening Tuesday.
Support for this edition comes from Our Saviour Lutheran Church. We warmly invite you to attend our Christmas Eve Service, on Wednesday evening, Dec. 24, with Christmas themed music beginning at 6:30 p.m. and worship at 7 p.m. This service is available both in-person and online, so you can participate from wherever you are. Join us in person at 300 W. Fowler Ave. in West Lafayette, or connect with us virtually through our Facebook (facebook.com/osluth) or YouTube (youtube.com/@osluth). Our phone number is 743-2931. Service highlights: reflecting on God’s love; celebrating the birth of Christ through meaningful scripture readings; candle lighting ceremony; singing of traditional hymns; and participating in communion together. We look forward to gathering as a community to honor the spirit of Christmas and rejoice in the birth of Christ. All are welcome on this special evening of worship and celebration.
2ND DEMOCRAT PLANS SENATE DIST. 22 CHALLENGE FOR ALTING’S SEAT
A second Democrat plans to file to run for the Indiana Senate District 22 seat, forcing a May 2026 primary on both sides of the ballot for a seat held by Sen. Ron Alting since 1999.
Marlena Edmondson, a student service coordinator for the past 12 years with Tippecanoe School Corp., filed campaign finance paperwork in early December and said this week that she plans to formally announce her run in a few weeks.
“I have been working with families involved with child welfare, the juvenile justice system, and the last 12 years have been in public education,” Edmondson, a Lafayette resident and 2006 Harrison High School graduate, said. “I’ve gotten to the point where I feel like I’ve advocated as much as I can and keep getting caught up by red tape by policies that don’t benefit all students, by seeing how our economy is impacting families and their ability to send their children prepared for school, and by the impact that has on other students and our teachers. I’ve come to a point where I need to make change in a different way. I need to advocate on a larger scale.”
Edmonson would face Natasha Baker, a Battle Ground resident and high school teacher in Carroll County, in the Democratic primary. Alting, a Lafayette Republican, faces a primary challenge from Richard Bagsby, a Realtor and minister from the eastern edge of Tippecanoe County.
Senate District 22 includes Lafayette, an eastern portion of Tippecanoe County and all of Carroll County.
Baker said when she announced her campaign in October that she knew other Democrats were contemplating a run, too.
“I am excited to bring attention to this race and get progressives to come to the ballot box,” Baker said Monday. “I hope that we can drum up excitement that will help Democrats perform well up and down the ballot. As far as having a primary challenger, it is motivating me to put my best self forward. Our differences will come to light over the upcoming months as we share our stances on different issues and policy priorities.”
Edmondson, who has degrees from the University of Indianapolis and IUPUI, said Monday she believed a social worker’s approach to issues is lacking in the General Assembly. She said she wanted to focus on jobs, affordability in general and matching the state’s emphasis on business with developing people expected to be in the workforce. She said part of that was due to cuts in public education in the state.
“I think that we need to focus on building education,” Edmondson said. “I’m looking forward to seeing if people agree with me.”
She called Alting a moderate Republican who “has run some good campaign where he is able to win voters from both sides.”
“What I’ve heard with some of the canvassing that I have done is that he can sometimes come across as wishy-washy – that he knows how to speak to people based on who is in the room,” Edmondson said. “I just figure I can come out with a different perspective. … With the skills that I have, I think it would be interesting for people to see what a social worker could offer in an instance of policy after working with families and children and individuals. He’s done what he’s done, and our state is where it is.”
Alting, first elected to the seat in 1998 and now the longest-tenured member of the Indiana Senate, did not immediately respond for comment Monday.
Bagsby noted the primaries lining up.
“The fact that so many people are stepping into this race — on both sides — says something important: people in District 22 are hungry for change,” Bagsby said. “Voters are tired of politics that’s disconnected from their lives. They want leadership that actually listens, stands firm, and reflects their values. This race isn’t about political insiders or status quo management. It’s about giving families in District 22 a stronger voice and a future they can believe in.”
The official candidate filing period ahead of the May 2026 primary starts Jan. 7.
THIS AND THAT …
PARK EAST BOULEVARD EXTENSION OPENING TUESDAY: The Park East Boulevard extension, connecting Indiana 38 to McCarty Lane, is scheduled to open at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, city officials announced Monday.
The road will connect South Street and Indiana 38, including roundabouts at Haggerty Lane, McCarty Lane and an extension of St. Francis Way, leading to Creasy Lane at Franciscan East Hospital.
According to the city, Park East will be open Tuesday, but some paving work remains on the $21.5 million project. That will be done in the spring.
“This is a project our community has been planning for many years,” Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski said in a release announcing the timing of the opening. “Opening Park East Boulevard provides a critical new north–south connection, improves safety and efficiency for drivers, and helps relieve pressure on some of our busiest corridors. It’s another important investment in Lafayette’s future for continued growth and mobility.”
HOLIDAY TIMES, AT THE CURB: For your trash pickup planning during the holiday weeks …
In Lafayette: Sanitation crews will run regular Thursday routes on Friday, Dec. 26, and Friday routes on Saturday, Dec. 27. The following week, Thursday routes will run on Friday, Jan. 2, along with the regular Friday routes.
In West Lafayette: A bit tricker this week. Wednesday routes will pick up Tuesday, Dec. 22. Thursday routes will go Friday, Dec. 26. The trash routes will run the regular days the week of New Year’s Day.
WEST SIDE REFERENDUM FOCUS GROUPS: West Lafayette Community School Corp. will hold two public forums to discuss the district’s policy on transfer students and on timing of West Side’s property tax referendum. The virtual sessions will be 7 p.m. Jan. 13 and noon Jan. 15. Sign up by 9 a.m. Jan. 9 using this link.
Earlier in December, Superintendent Shawn Greiner told school board members that more than 800 people responded to a recent survey on the potential for going early on a property tax referendum and on the district’s student transfers policy. Greiner said that preliminary numbers indicated greater support for some form of controlled transfers and more support than opposition for the referendum.
In November, a consultant told the school board that an eight-year property tax referendum voters overwhelmingly renewed in 2023 won’t be enough to keep up with lost funding anticipated for West Lafayette schools as state-approved reform and declining enrollment unfurl over the next several years. Mike Reuter, the district’s financial adviser, recommended then that if the school board wants to go back to voters in November 2026 with an increased property tax referendum question, it should make that decision shortly after the end of the 2026 General Assembly session in late February or early March to give time to convince the community it’s needed.
Reuter said models that factor in changes to the tax base, deeper homestead credits on residential property and inflation means it would take a property tax referendum of up to 51.15 cents – up from the current 37-cent rate – to keep pace by 2031.
On student transfers, West Lafayette has a limited transfer policy, through an agreement with Tippecanoe School Corp. Until this year, according to the district, West Lafayette schools billed TSC approximately $400,000 on top of the money that came from the state’s per-student tuition funding to cover operational and educational expenditures covered by the referendum’s 37-cent property tax charged to those who live in the West Lafayette district. A new state law stripped a school district’s ability to charge the additional costs of a property tax referendum to families of transfer students who live and pay taxes somewhere else.
In a related item, an SK hynix gift: West Lafayette schools announced last week it received an $80,000 donation from SK hynix, the South Korean company planning to build a $3.87 billion facility to start assembling high-bandwidth memory chips in West Lafayette in 2028. Of that, $50,000 was designated to support stem education across all grades in West Side schools. The other $30,000 will go to student competition in robotics and other academic programs. “West Lafayette takes great pride in providing high-quality educational experiences, and strong partnerships with local businesses like SK hynix help us continue expanding meaningful learning opportunities for all students,” Superintendent Shawn Greiner said in a release. “Their investment in STEM education and student competitions strengthens our shared commitment to excellence and innovation, and we sincerely appreciate their dedication to our community’s future.”
OTHER READS …
Indiana Capital Chronicle editor Niki Kelly reported on a one-hour tour offered of the immigration detention center now holding more than 550 men in a section of the Miami Correctional Facility, about 60 miles northeast of Lafayette in Bunker Hill. From her report: “The state is now in its third month of a two-year contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Indiana officials approved $16 million for facility upgrades in September after the state signed an agreement allowing up to 1,000 immigrants to be held there. … The immigration detainees are kept separate from about 1,800 state prisoners who are held in an identical set of buildings. As of Wednesday, about 811 detainees have moved through the center with a current census of 558. But it is constantly changing as ICE brings in more men from around the nation and sends others back to their home countries. … Buses come from the Indianapolis International Airport daily. The facility receives about 20 detainees a day and releases about seven a day.” For the rest: “Behind the walls of Indiana’s ICE detention facility.”
Would the Chicago Bears really look to the Region for its stadium project, as the team announced last week it might? Indianapolis Star reporters Kayla Dwyer and Hayleigh Colombo has this look: “Northwest Indiana leaders had little specifically to do with the Chicago Bears’ surprise open letter expressing interest in locating the football team’s new stadium there. But they are welcoming the prospect with open arms ― and had already been laying the groundwork for something like this for years.” For more: “Are the Chicago Bears serious about Northwest Indiana, or is it a ploy?”
From Indiana Citizen reporter Syndney Byerly: “Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith says a bill aimed at changing how Indiana’s candidates for lieutenant governor are selected – eliminating the role of party conventions, where he defeated Gov. Mike Braun’s hand-picked candidate to win the Republican nomination last year – is really about ‘taking away grassroots power.’ Beckwith’s comments, in a brief interview with The Indiana Citizen, come as Republican lawmakers seek to advance a measure that appears to target Beckwith and would prevent insurgent candidates like him from similarly claiming spots on future gubernatorial tickets. Under House Bill 1022, the parties’ nominees for governor would instead choose their own running mates. The proposal would end the Republican and Democratic parties’ long-standing practice of selecting their lieutenant governor nominees at state conventions.” For more: “Beckwith says lieutenant governor selection bill would undercut parties’ grassroots power.”
Indiana was named “State of the Year” by the Washington Post editorial board, in a piece that appeared Monday and delved into the politics that drove “a new year-end tradition” looking into “policy reform that deserve more attention.” In particular, the Washington Post noted the recent stand by 21 Republicans in the Indiana Senate who helped sink a push to redistricting the state’s nine congressional seats – something desperately wanted by the White House to keep GOP control in Congress after the 2026 midterm elections. “This act of political courage has emboldened others,” the editorial board wrote, to stop a race to the bottom by states trying to redraw U.S. House district lines to pick up seats on either side of the aisle. See more here: “The state of the year? Here is the first winner.” The congratulatory tone, though, met with skepticism among Indiana House Democrats, who took issue with the rest of the editorial’s celebration of the General Assembly’s moves on property taxes, school vouchers and zoning changes that eased the way for charter schools to open. Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, a Fort Wayne Democrat and Indiana House Democratic leader, said Monday he was on board for the pat on the back on stalling redistricting. “However, the rest of their analysis of policy changes made by the supermajority is an inadvertent testament to the importance of Indiana’s local media outlets and journalists,” GiaQuinta said in a statement. He said the editorial board ignored fallout from property tax and budget cuts still being sorted out after the 2025 session ended last spring, including reaction from local governments and schools to make up for lost revenue through new or increased local taxes. “All in all, this editorial is yet another example of Washington elites failing to grasp the real situation on the ground here in Indiana,” GiaQuinta wrote. “I am grateful for the Hoosier reporters who work hard to tell the complete story of the policies that come out of the Statehouse – the good and the bad.”
A BiL STOCKING STUFFER
Are you still looking for a last-minute gift for that hard-to-buy-for someone? How about the gift of local news heading into 2026? Now through Christmas, take 20% off a monthly or annual gift subscription to Based in Lafayette.
Here’s how …
STILL BUILDING THAT BiL HOLIDAY PLAYLIST: TELL US WHAT’S ON YOURS
Through Christmas, BiL will curate three songs a day from readers. The assignment isn’t necessarily about the best or most iconic songs of the season. Just songs that you’d want in the mix and why they belong. Here’s the playlist so far for 2025.
Today’s entry comes from …
Jonathan Neal
Retired from Purdue in 2020, I’m a big fan of live music at our small music venues.
“All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth),” by Donald Yetter Gardner – Mr. Gardner wrote this song as a second grade music teacher staring at a class full of students missing their front teeth. Submitted honor of Dr. Stephen Cook who is retiring this year. My favorite version is the jazzy Big Bad Voodoo Daddy version.
“Happy Xmas,” John Lennon and Yoko Ono – The message is timeless.
“Christmas Will Really Be Christmas,” Ben Raleigh and James W. Alexander – This song was released during the turmoil of 1967 and looks toward a happier future when the “whole world will smile again. Lou Rawls delivers on this soulful R&B tune.
Your turn
What three songs are going into your holiday/seasonal playlist this year? If you’re game share, here’s all we need:
Three songs and the artists.
One or two sentences about why you chose each one – could be a memory or a short history or review about why that track belongs in your mix and why you’d recommend it to others.
A little bit about you to let readers know who’s making the picks.
Send to: davebangert1@gmail.com
Thanks, again, for support from Our Saviour Lutheran Church, 300 W. Fowler Ave. in West Lafayette, inviting you to attend Christmas Eve Service, Wednesday evening, Dec. 24, with Christmas themed music beginning at 6:30 p.m. and worship at 7 p.m. Learn more at facebook.com/osluth.
Thank you for supporting Based in Lafayette, an independent, local reporting project. Free and full-ride subscription options are ready for you here.
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.