Unofficial election results are providing a glimpse into which Republicans could run in November to fill the seats left open by Victoria Spartz — who claimed victory in the 5th Congressional District primary — and by the retirement of former House Speaker Brian Bosma.
In the Republican primary for state Senate District 20, Scott Baldwin led with 66.7% of the votes and JR Gaylor had 33.3% of votes with 64% of precincts reporting, per the Associated Press. Before 10 p.m. Tuesday, the AP called the race for Baldwin.
This Hamilton County seat is open after incumbent Republican Spartz decided to run in the 5th District Congressional race.
This was the first bid for elected office for both Baldwin, 52, and Gaylor, 68. Baldwin served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was an Indianapolis Metro Police officer. Currently, he owns a construction management and real estate development firm called Envoy, as well as a small IP firm and other real estate holdings.
Gaylor, 68, is the president of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana and Kentucky.
The party’s nominee in the strongly GOP district will face Democrat Ronald Saunders III in November. He is running unopposed in the primary.
In the Republican primary for House District 88, the AP called the race for Chris Jeter on Wednesday. With 86% of precincts reporting, Jeter had 57.6% of the vote to Leah McGrath’s 42.4%, per the AP.
District 88 represents the northeast corner of Marion County and small portions of Hancock and Hamilton counties and is open for the first time in more than 30 years after the retirement of Bosma.
Both Jeter and McGrath are making their first runs for public office, though both have political and government experience.
Jeter, 41, is an attorney and small-business owner who bills himself as a political outsider despite having served on the Fishers Economic Development Commission and as a legal adviser to the Hamilton County Council. McGrath, 42, who is vice president for public affairs at Knowledge Services, is also a former deputy mayor of Fishers and has served on the board of directors for Conner Prairie and is president of Fishers Youth Assistance Program.
The nominee in this district, where Bosma has held the seat since 1986, will face Democrat Pam Dechert in November. Dechert is running unopposed in the primary.
And in the Democratic Primary for Senate District 40, Shelli Yoder had 80.3% of the vote with 100% of precincts reporting, per the AP which called the race for her.
Yoder led the three-candidate race for a state senate district that represents Monroe County, which includes Bloomington and the Indiana University campus. It is open due to the retirement of incumbent Democrat Mark Stoops.
Yoder, 51, is a lecturer at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, who previously served on the Monroe County Council and was the party’s nominee for the 9th District Congressional seat in 2012 and 2016.
Fellow candidates John Zody and Trent Feuerbach had 17.6% and 2.1% of the vote, respectively according to the AP.
Zody, 43, has led the state party since 2013, but this was his first bid for public office. Feuerbach, 51, sees himself as an option to “establishment” candidates.
There is no Republican candidate on the primary ballot, but party officials could appoint a candidate this summer to run in the November election.
Full election results could be delayed after voters were urged to opt for mail-in for Tuesday’s primary election, which was delayed from its original May 5 date due to the coronavirus pandemic. More than half a million Hoosiers requested mail-in ballots and across the state and many counties chose to have fewer polling locations.
In the Indiana General Assembly, all 100 Indiana House of Representative seats and half of the 50 seats in the Indiana Senate are up for election in November.