Takeaways from the 2026 primary
Ron Alting hangs on in Indiana Senate District 22. Congressman Jim Baird cruises against challenge from a state representative. Tracy Brown lines up run against state Rep. Sheila Klinker. And more.
As we all wait to see what’s next in Indiana Senate District 23, where state Sen. Spencer Deery and challenger Paula Copenhaver declared victory in an election separated by three votes, how about results in other races. In case you missed it …
Indiana Senate District 22: Alting hangs on
State Sen. Ron Alting, a Lafayette Republican who is the longest-serving current Indiana senator, survived a primary challenge from the right by Richard Bagsby.
“I think the most successful accomplishment is that I’m still a kid from South Fourth Street, Lafayette,” Alting said Tuesday night, after picking up 59.1% of the vote. “If you deliver results, you’re going to be OK. If you stop delivering results, then you’re done. … Long story short, I think it’s because they know Ronnie.”
Bagsby, who ran unsuccessfully in Indiana House District in the 2022 primary, portrayed Alting as not conservative enough for a Senate District 22 that spreads from Lafayette into eastern Tippecanoe County and up into Carroll County. He singled out votes Alting made on a series of social issues, including his reluctance to side with a total abortion ban, and his support of the LGBTQ community.
Alting, first elected to the Indiana Senate in 1998, still wound up with an endorsement from President Donald Trump based on his vote for the failed, White House-backed redistricting plan.
“We gave it our best shot,” Bagsby, a minister and construction business owner, said. “We were up against all odds – Trump, (Senate Majority Campaign Committee), a 28-year incumbent. We put the work in, put the time in, had the volunteers and the groundwork. And the numbers came up short.”
How much of a role did the Trump endorsement play in a campaign where Alting was challenged by someone who positioned himself as more conservative?
“I think it was minimal,” Alting said. “I still think it’s the candidate. You can have the president of the United States endorse you, but if you’re not producing, you’re not yourself, if you don’t show compassion, if you’re not working hard, people know.”
On the Democratic ticket in Senate District 22, Natasha Baker took 62.1% of the vote over Marlena Edmondson. Baker, a teacher from Battle Ground, built a pervasive social media presence based on issues surrounding families, public education and health care.
“I learned that social media can be very powerful in reaching people who are not engaged and that have never voted before,” Baker said Tuesday evening. “I need to continue working on social media to reach out to people who are like me and moms and teachers that don’t normally vote or pay attention to politics. I think it’s really empowering for them to see someone who looks like them and has a lot in common with them stepping up into politics. I need to continue being true to myself and reaching those people.”
Other Indiana General Assembly races
House District 27: Tracy Brown, Tippecanoe County commissioner and former county sheriff, cruised to a primary victory with 79% over the vote over Republican Oscar Alvarez, setting up a high-profile local battle with state Rep. Sheila Klinker. Klinker, a Lafayette Democrat first elected in 1982, will face her more formidable test in nearly a decade in a district centered in Lafayette.
“I know what lies ahead,” Brown said Tuesday night. “It’s not about signs. It’s about voter connection and what are the needs in District 27.”
Klinker said she’d lean into familiar issues she’s campaigned on in the past, including finding ways to support teachers and setting up schools for success. She said she also understood who she’d be facing.
“Because I consider Tracy a friend of mine,” Klinker said. “Hopefully, it will be a fair contest and we’ll talk about what we’re going to do for people, rather than some negativity like we’ve seen in some of these races this time.”
House District 13: Brenna Geswein, an engineer from Lafayette, received 78.5% of the vote over Ed Moyer Jr., a retired educator from Hillsboro, in the Democratic primary in Indiana House District 13 to face state Rep. Matt Commons, a Williamsport Republican running for a second term. In his first race, in 2024, Commons took 73.7% of the vote over Moyer in a district that includes a large part of southern and northern Tippecanoe County, along with all of Benton and Warren counties, and portions of Fountain, Jasper, Montgomery, Newton and White counties.
House District 26: State Rep. Chris Campbell, a West Lafayette Democrat looking for a fifth two-year term, and Republican Magdalaine Davis will face each other in the November election. Neither had opposition in the primary in a district that includes West Lafayette and parts of western Tippecanoe County.
Indiana House District 41: State Rep. Mark Genda, a Frankfort Republican, and Democrat Jackson Hayes had not primary opponents in a district that includes southern portions of Tippecanoe County.
House District 38: State Rep. Heath VanNatter, a Howard County Republican, beat challenger Mark Hufford with 58.5% of the vote. He will face Democrat Nate Stout, who ran unopposed in the primary.
U.S. House 4th District
U.S. Rep. Jim Baird eased to another Republican nomination in Indiana’s 4th District, getting 60.5% of the vote over challengers Craig Haggard and John Piper. Haggard finished in second, 30 percentage points behind.
As the polls were about to close Tuesday, Haggard, a Republican state representative from Mooresville, said he went into his primary challenge of Baird knowing it would be an uphill battle and figuring 2026 wouldn’t be the last for him.
“I say this, I’m running in 2028, win or lose,” Haggard said. “I’m not going anywhere. What would it say? I think if I fought for something and it didn’t work out and I just went away, that’s not that’s not my personality. Maybe I’m stubborn, maybe I’m dedicated, maybe sometimes people say I’m dumb for wanting to do this, go to Congress. But I’ve made this commitment. … I’m going to keep fighting either way.”
Baird, a Greencastle Republican first elected to Congress in 2018, had the endorsement of President Donald Trump. But Haggard campaigned on a theme that Baird was too often absent in the district the covers much of west-central Indiana, including Tippecanoe and surrounding counties.
“The more I did it, the more people started getting on board,” Haggard said. “The momentum started, and I just feeling energized and more and more optimistic with people that wanted some change.”
On the Democratic side, Drew Cox, a faculty member at Purdue, emerged from a field of eight Democrats who campaigned on varying messages about neutralizing a rightward shift in Congress and navigating the final two years of Trump’s presidency. Cox received 30.3% of the vote, topping the 22.8% for second-place finisher Joe Mackey. He’ll have an uphill climb, as all Democrats have in 4th District the leans hard to the right. Baird won his fourth term in 2024 with 64.8% of the vote. The results had been similar in races dating back a couple of decades.
Local offices
County commissioner: Republican Julie Roush, in the final year of her second term as county clerk, will face Democrat Andrea Burniske in the November general election for Tippecanoe County commissioner in District 1. Roush beat James Waters in the Republican primary with 74.5% of the vote. Burniske won in a field of four, getting 52.4% of the vote. Commissioner candidates run in districts according to where they live, but voters across the county will have this race on their ballots. Commissioners are elected to four-year terms as the executive branch of county government, overseeing policy.
County clerk: In a race of clerk’s office employees, Carrie Sanders edged Abby Myers by 136 votes for the Republican nomination to replace current clerk Julie Roush. “We both worked really hard and she had a lot of great people supporting her,” Sanders said. “And so did I. I’m just getting my bearings and getting ready for Round 2.” Sanders will face Karan Benner, the Democratic nominee who ran unopposed in the primary.
The Republican primary had been a bit salty after Myers was fined by the county Election Board over how she recorded a donation on her campaign finance report – a matter Myers said was politically motivated and took to court for a judicial review. (Sanders had distanced herself, saying she had nothing to do with the questions about Myers’ campaign finance paperwork.) That case is just starting to wind its way through the court.
Tippecanoe County Council: In the lone primary for county council, incumbent Jody Hamilton beat Jon Chapin for the Republican nomination in District 2. No Democratic candidate was on the primary ballot. Here’s how the races shaped up in the other three districts:
District 1: Ben Murray*, D; Trent Richter, R
County Council, District 3: Lynn Beck, R
County Council, District 4: Lisa Dullum*, D
County races that had no primary challenges (incumbents marked with an asterisk):
Assessor: Anthony Hustedt-Mai, R; Kaitlyn Butler, D
Auditor: Jennifer Weston*, R; Eric Grossman, D
Recorder: Kristy Martin*, R; Monica Casanova, D
Prosecutor: Jason Biss, R
Judge, Superior Court 1: Kevin McDaniel*, R
Judge, Superior Court 2: Sarah Wyatt, R
Judge, Superior Court 4: Matt Sandy*, R
Judge, Superior Court 5: Kristen McVey*, R
Judge, Superior Court 7: Dan Moore*, R
Wea Township trustee: In a race that had been built around accusations about transparency and accountability in the trustee’s office, challenger Alan Williams won by a 14-vote margin – or 50.3% — over incumbent Jim Slaven in the Republican primary. Alfonso Salazar Jr. is on the ballot as the Democratic Party nominee. Wea Township includes a southern portion of Lafayette, along with an area of unincorporated Tippecanoe County south of the city.
Fairfield Township trustee: Ted Hardesty, a former West Lafayette City Council member, beat Rocky Hession, former Fairfield Township Board member, with 60.6% of the vote for the Democratic Party nomination to replace Trustee Monica Casanova. Ray Williams will be the Republican nominee. Fairfield Township includes the roughly two-thirds of Lafayette, along with an area of unincorporated Tippecanoe County to the northeast of the city.
For more results
Here’s a link to unofficial results in Tippecanoe County.
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On the upside, none of us have to listen to corny PAC ads while we're trying to listen to a jazz playlist on YouTube anymore.
So, recounts?