Via reports from poll workers and local news coverage, voter turnout for the 2026 midterms has been higher than normal. Turnout at polling places across the Region was stronger than 2024’s election, with polling places reporting more voters by noon Tuesday than they’d seen all day last time. Voters waited for polling places to open, which was not a given in previous cycles, and long lines circled outside of Lake County polling locations throughout most of the day.

While not as dramatic as the seats being flipped in other states around the country, Indiana had its own version of the so-called “blue wave” or “blue tsunami” in this year’s midterm elections. Democrats made substantial gains in the Indiana legislature, flipping enough House seats to end Republicans’ two-thirds supermajority and picking up at least four Senate seats.

Elsewhere in the state, Republican U.S. Rep Victoria Spartz was unseated from her incumbent position in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District by challenger Democrat J.D. Ford - a seat that Republicans had held for years. Ford made history on multiple fronts, aside from breaking the long-held Republican seat in D-5, as he is the first openly gay state legislator elected in Indiana.

Secretary of State went to Democrat Beau Bayh, becoming the first Democrat to hold that position since 1994. Bayh is the son of former Indiana governor Evan Bayh (who served from 1989-1997) and grandson of former Indiana senator Birch Bayh (who represented Vigo County in the House from 1954-1962, and served as a U.S. Senator from 1963-1981).

House flips
District 25 (Boone/Hendricks): Tiffany Stoner unseated Rep. Becky Cash, avenging a razor-thin loss two years earlier, roughly 59% to 41%.
District 24 (Hamilton area): Racheal Bleicher defeated Rep. Hunter Smith, a former NFL punter, about 53% to 47%.
District 36 (Madison County): Kimberly Townsend beat Rep. Kyle Pierce, around 55% to 45%.
Hendricks County: William Colteryahn ousted Greg Steuerwald, who had served since 2007.
District 62 (Brown County area): Amy Huffman Oliver defeated Rep. Dave Hall, roughly 59% to 41%.
District 84 (Fort Wayne): Misti Meehan narrowly edged Rep. Bob Morris, 51% to 49%, per early unofficial totals.
Over a dozen other GOP incumbents, including Speaker Todd Huston, were trailing or in uncalled races early Wednesday.

Senate flips and holds
District 22: Natasha Baker defeated veteran Sen. Ron Alting, who had stepped back from campaigning amid shoplifting allegations and concerns about his own judgment.
District 15: Julie McGill narrowly unseated Sen. Liz Brown of Fort Wayne.
District 1 (Lake County): Scott Houldieson won an open seat, beating a Republican who had challenged the incumbent in the primary.
District 31: Kerry Forestal, the Marion County sheriff, won another open seat comfortably.
District 11: An open seat remained uncalled but appeared to favor Democrats.
Hold: Kristina Moorhead kept the seat vacated by J.D. Ford, who moved to Congress, in a landslide.

Michigan City Schools superintendent, Wendel McCollum, quickly announced yesterday that the district has already put together plans to request a recanvassing of the referendum vote that failed by 112 votes in the midterm election. Issues at various polling locations were reported across Porter and LaPorte Counties as well, which when paired with the less than 1% difference in the results, leads the school district to seek recanvassing. Elsewhere in the Region, referendums were passed broadly to help offset the reduction in public funding for education as a result of Senate Enrolled Act 1 - a restructuring of property tax and local income tax that will, over the next five years, continually reduce the amount of public funding going to public schools across the state.

The school districts that passed referendums are as follows, as well as the margins of victory (rounded to the nearest percent):

Crown Point: 53% For/ 47% Against
River Forest: 59% For/ 41% Against
Whiting - operations: 62% For/ 38% Against
Whiting- Capital/controlled project: 57% For/ 43% Against
Tri-Creek: 56% For/ 44% Against
Porter Township: 58% For/ 42% Against
Union Township: 62% For/ 38% Against

Schultz, 41, died in a highway collision over the weekend and ended up being the leading vote-getter in the Morgan Township Board contest, earning 761 ballots in a field of four candidates competing for three seats. Officials have, at the time of writing, not yet said how they would handle the outcome. The crash that killed him reportedly occurred when another motorist failed to stop at a sign and entered Ind. 49 from County Road 250 South, striking Schultz and trapping him in his vehicle after it was overturned.

A lot of questions are on the minds of Hoosiers this week, especially after the windfall of a historic midterm election. The core question we’re all asking, though: will Governor Mike Braun intervene yet again and suspend gasoline taxes, or will gas prices throughout the state spike $0.64/gal overnight? At the time of writing on Wednesday afternoon, there has been no communication on whether or not Braun has plans to extend the tax holiday, which have been underway since April as a result of rising fuel costs due to the ongoing war in Iran. The suspension of these taxes have left road funding in the state in dire straits, as a loss of nearly $1 billion in infrastructure funding is expected as a result of the gas tax suspension. No replacement plan has been put into place for state transportation funding at this point, either. Truly, we are all just wondering if the cost to fill up our tanks is going to go up $5-15 overnight.

Edit: After writing had concluded on this edition of the newsletter, it was announced by Republican Governor Mike Braun that the gasoline tax would continue to be suspended through December 4th. This will be the 7th consecutive month the gas taxes across the state have been suspended, in the wake of spiking fuel costs due to the ongoing War in Iran.

Our news summaries are aggregated through local Facebook posts, as well as articles from local publications like the NWITimes, Chicago Tribune, GreatNewsLife and more. Our summaries are not a substitute for reading the full article. Seek out the whole picture on their websites.

On Nov 7, 1967, Michigan City native Richard Gordon Hatcher won Gary's mayoral election, defeating Joseph B. Radigan 39,940 votes (51.42%) to 37,729 (48.58%). On the same day Carl Stokes won in Cleveland, making the two the first Black mayors elected in U.S. cities over 100,000 people - and Hatcher the first Black mayor in Indiana history. He went on to serve five terms, from 1968 to 1987, and hosted the 1972 National Black Political Convention in Gary.

Spanish-tile-roofed home in Beverly Shores' dunes community near Lake Michigan, with a remodeled upper level and a self-contained lower-level in-law suite with its own entrance, kitchen and bath. 3bd, 2 full baths plus a three-quarter bath, 3,328 sqft, built in 1983 on 0.52 acres. MLS #847681 (NIRA), Active, listing updated Nov 1, 2026. Listing photo in the gallery at the link.