These central Indiana Statehouse races are contested. Here's who is on your ballot.
A political reshuffling in Hamilton County has created an intriguing match-up in the GOP primary race for the House District 29 seat in Noblesville.
The former Hamilton East Public Library board president who helped guide a controversial book replacement policy, Laura Alerding, is running against a former district director for U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, Alaina Shonkwiler.
The seat was left vacant when Chuck Goodrich chose to run for the 5th congressional district seat held by Spartz after the congresswoman said she would retire. Spartz later changed her mind and is now running for reelection.
Shonkwiler now supports Goodrich in the congressional race, though she received a $5,000 contribution from Spartz in May 2023. Spartz also contributed $5,000 to Alerding, a long-time friend who urged Spartz to run for congress in 2020.
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House District 29 is one of three Hamilton County Statehouse races that won't feature an incumbent lawmaker this year, an unusually high number which often means more competitive primary races. In addition to Goodrich, Rep. Jerry Torr and Rep. Donna Schaibley, both from Carmel, aren't running for reelection this year. In Marion County, Republican Rep. Mike Speedy isn't seeking reelection either, choosing instead to run for Indiana's 6th Congressional District.
Meanwhile, in three other Marion County districts, candidates are challenging incumbents in the primary election. Often in Indiana, the primary elections are far more competitive than the general election, so these races matter. Whoever wins on May 7 will be on the general election ballot in November.
In all, eight incumbents across the state are not seeking reelection this year, five in Marion and the surrounding counties.
Democrats need to turn four seats to break the Republican supermajority in November and are running primary candidates in 67 of 100 house districts. They picked up one seat two years ago.
Here are some of the central Indiana races on the May primary ballot to watch.
Open House District 29
Alerding is facing Shonkwiler, who resigned from Spartz’s office after nine months in January 2022, one of several employees to leave in that period because of an allegedly unhealthy work environment.
Shonkwiler, who describes herself as moderate with a lengthy background in local economic development, is critical of Alerding’s tenure on the library board.
“She went in there to disrupt,” Shonkwiler said. “I am not pro-censorship. That is not the government’s job.”
The race has created natural divisions between the more economic development-focused Republicans, who've coalesced around Shonkwiler, and those driven more often by social issues, who are backing Alerding.
As head of the library board, last year Alerding led a controversial effort to relocate thousands of books that the board’s conservative majority considered pornographic and harmful to children from the children’s section to the adult section. Her one term ended last August when the Noblesville School Board decided not to renew her appointment. A new, more moderate board eventually rescinded the policy.
Shonkwiler describes herself as a compassionate conservative, a phrase coined by President George W. Bush but seldom heard anymore as partisan lines have hardened.
“I am a conservative but one who realizes we are also humans and we have to conduct our dealing with a level of compassion that seems to be missing in the party today," said Shonkwiler, who opposes abortion and favors gun rights, “but I’m not going to be a bully about it.”
She said she will be voting for Donald Trump for president, as she did in 2020, though she doesn’t “necessarily support him as a man.”
Shonkwiler worked as deputy director of economic development for Noblesville from 2012-2017, was the workforce development coordinator for Noblesville Schools for four years and program coordinator for the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce.
She is now a manager of government advisory with the Carmel accounting firm of Katz, Sapper & Miller. Her husband, Jason, is a Noblesville police sergeant and they have a teenage son and daughter.
Her experience in redevelopment will be an asset to residents of booming Hamilton County, she said.
“I learned how local government works with the county and stakeholders and merchants and even downtown visitors,” she said.
Education and funding teachers will also be a priority, as will reducing the property tax burden, the number one complaint she hears on the campaign trail, she said.
Shonkwiler has support from Luke Kenley, the former long-time state senator from Noblesville, U.S. Sen. Scott Baldwin R-Noblesville, former U.S. congresswoman Susan Brooks, Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen and Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness.
Alerding, who did not respond to requests for an interview, touts her library board service on her campaign website, writing it “became a path for protecting children from age-inappropriate content.”
“The path for collaboration during my recent library board term was a series of listening meetings I established with colleagues, the public, and community leaders,” the website reads. “After reviewing books brought to our attention by the public, in every case, they suggested having age-appropriate content in the teen, middle school, and juvenile sections. NOT banning or removing books.”
Her term was not renewed in 2023. Months later the Indiana Public Access counselor found that she and another board member, Ray Maddalone, violated the Open Meetings Act by meeting in a coffee shop with library attorneys in her final days on the board.
Alerding said on her campaign page as a state lawmaker she will focus on health care costs, educational achievement and property tax relief for low and fixed-income homeowners.
Alerding owns a promotional and marketing business, Creative Promotions at Work, and has been a mainstay in GOP county politics, serving as a precinct committee member, poll worker and state convention delegate.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has endorsed her, as have some conservative political action committees, including the American Families Association of Indiana, headed by activist Micah Clark.
Alerding has a combined family of six children, 18 grandchildren and two great-grandsons, according to her campaign website.
Christopher Hartig is running unopposed on the Democratic side.
Sen. Michael Young faces challenge
In Senate District 35, on the southwestside of Marion County stretching into Plainfield, first-time Republican candidate Phillip Clay is challenging embattled Sen. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis who has served in the chamber for 24 years and in the House for 14 years.
Young resigned from the GOP legislative caucus in 2022 because he opposed exceptions for rape and incest in the abortion ban being considered by the party. He was later removed from his post on the Senate Judiciary Committee because he failed to show up for meetings, according to the party leadership.
Clay, a 29-year-old real estate investment banker and co-founder of Arthur Clay and Co., a professional development organization for young Black men, said he represents a “voice for a generation,” in Decatur Township and Plainfield.
“Thirty-five years is a long time,” he said of Young’s tenure. “The founding fathers never intended for us to be career politicians. I'm not content to sit on the sidelines. I want to step into the game.”
The president of the Plainfield Redevelopment Commission, Clay said he is eager to foster managed economic growth in the district as a senator.
“We are seeing an economic boom, and retaining people in the workforce is important,” he said. The district is home to several warehousing and distribution facilities, including those for Amazon, FedEx, Frito-Lay and Nestle.
Clay, who is married and has a two-year-old son, is a member of the Black conservative leadership network, Project 21, part of the National Center for Public Policy Research, and is an alumnus of the 2022 Indiana Republican Diversity Series.
He said he will strive to ensure police departments are funded so they can adequately fight crime and to make adoptions easier. Backing charter schools, he said, is “extremely important.”
Young did not respond to interview requests.
Long a member of the committee on corrections and criminal law, Young has authored several bills that became law.
In the last few years he authored a measure that makes it illegal to use a tracking device on someone or their property without their permission; bolsters penalties for people who induce witnesses in legal proceedings to obstruct justice; raises the penalty for purchasing the services of a human trafficking victim from a Level 5 felony to a Level 4 felony; and gives sex abuse victims under 16 the right to confer with the prosecutor’s office before being deposed by defense attorneys.
His website says he has authored legislation to increase sentences for violent felons by 50%, and increased penalties for those who threaten police; has voted to provide a record funding increase to schools of $1.4 billion and backed efforts to increase teacher salaries. He said he voted to reduce income taxes and eliminate the Estate Tax and supported job training programs.
He also co-authored a bill to make teaching cursive writing mandatory in elementary schools.
On the Democratic primary ballot, Philip Gift is running unopposed.
Dem Rep. John Bartlett challenged
In House District 95, which covers a northeastern slice of Marion County into Lawrence, 16-year incumbent Democrat John L. Bartlett faces a challenge from Autumn Carter, a former finance director for the Marion County Democratic Party, breast cancer survivor, author and motivational speaker.
Carter was director of diversity and inclusion for the Indiana Young Democrats and briefly ran for Marion County recorder before her Stage 4 cancer diagnosis.
She said affordable housing will be a priority in the district that ranks near the top in evictions and that she will fight tenant rights and increasing funding to battle homelessness. Carter also wants to protect women’s reproductive rights, decrease childhood mortality rates and increase funding for mental health.
Carter would like to see more community policing and accountability by police as a way to bolster neighborhood protection.
“I truly believe in using this space as an advocate for the public,” Carter said. "This is the people’s seat; my main priority is to advocate and fight for them in the Statehouse, while staying close to my community.”
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Bartlett, who has faced a primary challenge only once, in 2020, did not respond to requests for comments.
He served as a tool-and-die maker for the Rolls-Royce Corporation until he retired after 42 years and started in politics as a precinct committeeman and member of the mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Council.
Bartlett is the parliamentarian of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus and sits on three legislative committees. He was part of a Democratic walkout in 2011 when the entire caucus fled to Urbana, Ill., for nearly a month so Republicans would not have a quorum to vote on an anti-union “right to work” bill.
In the last five years Bartlett has authored bills to put seat belts on school buses; protect human trafficking victims; require state police investigations of local police fatal shootings and those that seriously wound citizens; and ban high fructose corn syrup as a food additive.
None became law.
No Republican is running for the seat in May.
Former Colt seeks office in District 24
A former Indianapolis Colts player is running to replace retiring Republican Schaibley in the Hamilton County district that reaches into Zionsville in Boone County.
Hunter Smith, a Colts punter for 10 years, now a farmer, is squaring off against businessman Bill Gutrich.
Smith, who owns Wonder Tree Farm in Zionsville, has said in published reports that protecting the environment is important for the fast-growing district while Gutrich is unapologetically pro-growth.
“I am very pro-business and pro-development,” Gutrich said. "Hamilton County and Westfield are the fastest growing areas of the state but we must manage it.”
That’s what first got Gutrich interested in running about six years ago; seeing the room for growth and a desire to be part of shaping it.
“I want to continue building on the shoulders of giants like Jim Brainard (former Carmel mayor), who has done a fantastic job,” he said.
A Chicago native whose father was a Chicago police detective, Gutrich has worked for several large corporations, including Coca-Cola, Conagra, Samsung, and Elanco Animal Health. He now owns three Pet Supply stores across the state as well as a small animal feed company.
“I feel the relevance of my experience has prepared me for what is required of this job,” Gutrich said.
Gutrich said he is better suited to do the job than Smith because he lives in Hamilton County, which encompasses 90% of the direct while Boone County, where Smith lives, represents 10%.
Gutrich said he is a strong supporter of police who favors qualified immunity for officers, which limits their legal liability for alleged misconduct, and wants to improve recruitment of officers. He also backs a tough stand on undocumented immigrants.
In an emotionally charged local zoning issue, Gutrich backs a merger effort by Sheridan and Adams Township to protect itself from encroachment and annexation by Westfield.
Gutrich has the backing of several Hamilton County leaders including Brainard, Baldwin, Westfield Mayor Scott Willis and all three county commissioners.
Smith, who did not respond to interview requests, is a Notre Dame graduate who played on the Colts Super Bowl champion team and is lead singer in the Christian rock group, The Hunter Smith Band.
“My conviction is to offer principled, constituent-centered public service and leadership,” he said in his campaign announcement in December. “My allegiances are to God, my family, my friends, my country, and my constituents –specifically, those who may elect me in the district I will represent.”
Smith has the backing of the David Koch-founded conservative organization, Americans for Prosperity.
“Hunter believes that parents know what is best for their children. He will fight for and protect parents' right to choose what education is best for their kids,” AFP said in a news release. “Hoosier families are hurting, with inflation and government reckless spending shrinking their paychecks. Hunter will fight to cut taxes and slash regulations that will put more money in the pocket of Indiana families.”
Smith has been an Indiana resident since 1995, and lives in Zionsville with his wife, Jen, and their four children, Josiah, Samuel, Lydia, and Beau.
Both Smith and Gutrich have signed a term limits convention pledge circulated by U.S. Term Limits, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advocating term limits.
Democrat Josh Lowry is running unopposed.
Other Marion County races to watch
In other contested Marion County races:
Four Republicans are vying to replace Rep. Mike Speedy, R-Indianapolis, in House District 90 on Marion County's southeast side. Speedy is running in a crowded primary race for 6th congressional district seat that has six other candidates.
The Republican candidates to replace him are:
Andrew Ireland, a former deputy attorney general who champions charter schools and wants to reduce property taxes. He is anti-abortion and pro-gun rights.
Tim McVey, a district manager for Public Storage who has worked as a part-time substitute bus driver for the Franklin Township school district. He ran unsuccessfully for the Franklin Township School Board in 2022.
David Waters, who ran against Speedy and lost in 2022 in District 90 and lost an election bid last year for the Indianapolis City-County Council.
Elizabeth Williams, the CEO/Owner of Creative World Franklin Township and Expedient Health Services Solutions.
In House District 97: Sarah Shydale is challenging incumbent Rep. Justin Moed, D-Indianapolis, in the Democratic primary.
Shydale is a 23-year-old who says on her campaign website she will introduce legislation that limits corporate ownership of housing. She says she will fight to restore abortion rights and be an advocate for diversity and LGBT rights.
Moed was first elected in 2012 and serves as the Democratic whip.
Other Central Indiana races to watch
Other central Indiana contested primaries to watch are:
House District 53, New Palestine and Greenfield area: Keely Butrum, Brian Evans, Kevin Mandrell and Ethan Lawson, all Republicans, are running to replace retiring Republican Rep. Bob Cherry.
Senate District 24, Avon and Greencastle area: Brett Clark and Anne Engelhardt are running to replace retiring Republican Sen. John Crane.
Senate District 7, which includes Lebanon: Sen. Brian Buchanan R-Lebanon is being challenged by Joseph Bookwalter.
Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418 or email him at john.tuohy@indystar.com. Follow him on Facebook and X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Candidates battle over open Hamilton County Statehouse seats in primary
