Politics of Indiana

Indiana is one of fifty U.S. states. The state is considered a stronghold for the Republican Party and is rated R+11 on the Cook Partisan Voting Index. The state has supported the Republican candidate in every presidential election since 1968, with the exception of 2008. Republicans also currently hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly and have dominated the governorship since 2005. Indiana was once a swing state in the 19th century and early 20th century, voting for the national winner from 1852 to 1912, with the exception of 1876.

Indiana has elected several Democrats to the U.S. Senate in recent years, with Joe Donnelly serving as a senator until 2019. Certain cities, too, tend to favor Democrats; Gary, Indiana has had a Democratic mayor for the last 77 years. While only five Democratic presidential nominees have carried Indiana since 1900, 11 Democrats were elected governor during that time. Democrats also generally held control of the Indiana House of Representatives during the 1990s and 2000s as well.

Federal elections

Presidential elections

See also: United States presidential elections in Indiana

United States presidential election results for Indiana

Year	Republican / Whig		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	1,729,863	56.91%	1,242,505	40.87%	67,413	2.22%
2016	1,557,286	56.42%	1,033,126	37.43%	169,963	6.16%
2012	1,422,872	54.04%	1,154,275	43.84%	55,996	2.13%
2008	1,345,648	48.81%	1,374,039	49.84%	36,971	1.34%
2004	1,479,438	59.94%	969,011	39.26%	19,553	0.79%
2000	1,245,836	56.65%	901,980	41.01%	51,486	2.34%
1996	1,006,693	47.13%	887,424	41.55%	241,725	11.32%
1992	989,375	42.91%	848,420	36.79%	468,076	20.30%
1988	1,297,763	59.84%	860,643	39.69%	10,215	0.47%
1984	1,377,230	61.67%	841,481	37.68%	14,358	0.64%
1980	1,255,656	56.01%	844,197	37.65%	142,180	6.34%
1976	1,183,958	53.32%	1,014,714	45.70%	21,690	0.98%
1972	1,405,154	66.11%	708,568	33.34%	11,807	0.56%
1968	1,067,885	50.29%	806,659	37.99%	249,053	11.73%
1964	911,118	43.56%	1,170,848	55.98%	9,640	0.46%
1960	1,175,120	55.03%	952,358	44.60%	7,882	0.37%
1956	1,182,811	59.90%	783,908	39.70%	7,888	0.40%
1952	1,136,259	58.11%	801,530	40.99%	17,536	0.90%
1948	821,079	49.58%	807,833	48.78%	27,302	1.65%
1944	875,891	52.38%	781,403	46.73%	14,797	0.88%
1940	899,466	50.45%	874,063	49.03%	9,218	0.52%
1936	691,570	41.89%	934,974	56.63%	24,353	1.48%
1932	677,184	42.94%	862,054	54.67%	37,689	2.39%
1928	848,290	59.68%	562,691	39.59%	10,333	0.73%
1924	703,042	55.25%	492,245	38.69%	77,103	6.06%
1920	696,370	55.14%	511,364	40.49%	55,230	4.37%
1916	341,005	47.44%	334,063	46.47%	43,780	6.09%
1912	151,267	23.11%	281,890	43.07%	221,317	33.82%
1908	348,993	48.40%	338,262	46.91%	33,871	4.70%
1904	368,289	53.99%	274,345	40.22%	39,551	5.80%
1900	336,063	50.60%	309,584	46.62%	18,447	2.78%
1896	323,754	50.82%	305,573	47.96%	7,792	1.22%
1892	255,615	46.17%	262,740	47.46%	35,258	6.37%
1888	263,361	49.05%	261,013	48.61%	12,575	2.34%
1884	238,489	48.15%	245,005	49.46%	11,838	2.39%
1880	232,164	49.33%	225,522	47.91%	12,986	2.76%
1876	208,011	47.39%	213,526	48.65%	17,374	3.96%
1872	186,147	53.00%	163,632	46.59%	1,417	0.40%
1868	176,552	51.39%	166,980	48.61%	0	0.00%
1864	150,422	53.60%	130,233	46.40%	0	0.00%
1860	139,033	51.09%	115,509	42.44%	17,601	6.47%
1856	94,375	40.09%	118,670	50.41%	22,386	9.51%
1852	80,901	44.17%	95,340	52.05%	6,929	3.78%
1848	69,907	45.77%	74,745	48.93%	8,100	5.30%
1844	67,867	48.42%	70,181	50.07%	2,106	1.50%
1840	65,302	55.86%	51,604	44.14%	0	0.00%
1836	41,281	55.97%	32,478	44.03%	0	0.00%

Former governor and U.S. Senator Evan Bayh announced in 2006 his plans for a presidential exploratory committee. His father was a three-term senator who was turned out of office in the 1980 Reagan Revolution by conservative Republican (and future Vice President) Dan Quayle, a native of Huntington in the northeastern portion of the state. However, Bayh announced that he would not be seeking the Presidency on December 16, 2006.

In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama carried the state by 1.03%, which was the first time in 44 years that a Democrat won Indiana's electoral votes, and to date, the last.

Congress

Seven of the districts favor the Republican Party according to the CPVI rankings; there are currently seven Republicans serving as representatives and two Democrats. Historically, Republicans have been strongest in the eastern and central portions of the state, while Democrats have been strongest in the northwestern part of the state. Occasionally, certain counties in the southern part of the state will vote Democratic. Marion County, Indiana's most populated county, supported the Republican candidates from 1968 to 2000, before backing the Democrats in the 2004 and 2008 elections. Indiana's second most populated county, Lake County, is a strong supporter of the Democratic party that has not voted for a Republican since 1972.

The state's U.S. Senators are Sen. Todd Young (Republican) and Sen. Mike Braun (Republican). In 2006, then-senior Sen. Richard Lugar (Republican) won reelection to a sixth term with 87% of the vote against no major-party opposition. In 2010, Sen. Coats won reelection to a third non-consecutive term with 55% of the vote against Democratic Congressman Brad Ellsworth and Libertarian business owner and teacher Rebecca Sink-Burris.

Senator Lugar lost in the 2012 Republican primary to the state treasurer of Indiana, Richard Mourdock, who had been favored by the Tea Party movement. Joe Donnelly defeated Mourdock in the general election. He later lost re-election in 2018 to former state representative Mike Braun.

Indiana's delegation to the United States House of Representatives is not completely Republican either. Instead, it has generally served as a bellwether for the political movement of the nation. For instance, Democrats held the majority of seats until the 1994 Republican Revolution, when Republicans took a majority. This continued until 2006, when three Republican congressmen were defeated in Indiana; (Chris Chocola, John Hostettler and Mike Sodrel), giving the Democrats a majority of the delegation again.

Historically, Republicans have been strongest in the eastern and central portions of the state, as well as the suburbs of the state's major cities. Democrats have been strongest in the northwestern and southern parts of the state along with the major cities. However, outside of Indianapolis, the Chicago suburbs, and Bloomington, the state's Democrats tend to be somewhat more conservative than their counterparts in the rest of the country, especially on social issues.

Federal representation

Indiana currently has 9 House districts. In the 118th Congress, two of Indiana's seats are held by Democrats and seven are held by Republicans:

• Indiana's 1st congressional district represented by Frank J. Mrvan (D)
• Indiana's 2nd congressional district represented by Rudy Yakym (R)
• Indiana's 3rd congressional district represented by Jim Banks (R)
• Indiana's 4th congressional district represented by Jim Baird (R)
• Indiana's 5th congressional district represented by Victoria Spartz (R)
• Indiana's 6th congressional district represented by Greg Pence (R)
• Indiana's 7th congressional district represented by Andre Carson (D)
• Indiana's 8th congressional district represented by Larry Bucshon (R)
• Indiana's 9th congressional district represented by Erin Houchin (R)

Indiana's two United States senators are Republicans Todd Young and Mike Braun, serving since 2017 and 2019, respectively.

Indiana is part of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in the federal judiciary. The district's cases are appealed to the Chicago-based United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

See also

• Governor of Indiana
• Indiana General Assembly
• Indiana Supreme Court
• Constitution of Indiana
• Political party strength in Indiana