INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Indiana voters put Republican lawmakers in control of the General Assembly on Tuesday, with the GOP regaining a majority in the House and winning at least two-thirds of seats in the Senate.
Even with some races undecided early Wednesday, Republicans were assured of winning at least 57 seats in the 100-member House, with at least 10 seats switching from Democratic hands to the GOP’s.
The wins will give Gov. Mitch Daniels and his Republicans colleagues control over writing a new two-year state budget next year and redrawing the boundaries of Indiana’s congressional and legislative districts.
Daniels actively recruited Republican candidates to challenge Democratic incumbents, and his Aiming Higher political action committee spent nearly $1 million in hopes of getting more than two dozen Republican candidates elected. The effort paid off, and Daniels was already looking forward to the GOP advantage.
“It’ll be much easier to keep the books of the state in balance and keep Indiana as virtually the only state in the black without raising taxes,” Daniels said Tuesday as Republicans celebrated their victories in downtown Indianapolis.
The GOP picked up at least three seats from Democrats in Senate races after entering the day needing only one to gain at least a
two-thirds majority, and with it the power to conduct business without any Democrats present.
With Republicans controlling the governor’s office and the Senate, only a 52-48 Democratic majority in the House had stood in the way of Daniels’ legislative initiatives. Daniels said local government reform bills had passed the Senate only to die in the House.
“We hope that those will at least get a fair hearing over there,” the governor said.
The Democratic incumbents going down to defeat included House Majority Leader Russ Stilwell of Boonville, the second-in-command to outgoing Speaker Patrick Bauer of South Bend.
“We will live to fight another day,” said Bauer, who won re-election comfortably.
The likely new House speaker, Rep. Brian Bosma of Indianapolis, struck a conciliatory tone, saying he would work with Democrats to
confront the budget woes and other problems facing the state.
“We are probably at the most challenging point economically and budgetarily that we’ve been in in at least institutional memory. It’s going to take folks with both a vision and who are willing to work with all parties in both houses and our leaders to successfully address them,” Bosma said.
Daniels supported more than two dozen Republican candidates politically and financially, through his PAC, and it paid off with
at least 10 victories. However, two of his favorites, former Daniels agency heads Kyle Hupfer and Cheryl Musgrave, could not claim victory Tuesday night. Hupfer, who received more than $32,000, lost in his bid to knock off Rep. Scott Reske, D-Pendleton, and Musgrave narrowly trailed Rep. Gail Riecken in unofficial results.
Many Republican candidates also got support from Rep. Mike Pence, who campaigned for legislative candidates across the state.
“I believe Mitch Daniels is the best governor in America, and I wanted for him to see a more friendly state legislature in his last
two years,” Pence said.
Senate Republicans, who entered the election with a 33-17 majority, not only picked up three seats held by Democrats but also
held onto one contested seat as five-term Rep. Jim Merritt of Indianapolis fended off a challenge by Marion County Sheriff Frank
Anderson. Neither candidate had ever lost an election before Tuesday.
Originally reported by WISH-TV News. Read the original article here.