Ten of 16 Indiana House committee chairs raised more money than the average member this cycle

By

Kalyn Stralow

Elections for all 100 seats in the Indiana House of Representatives took place on Nov. 8, 2022. Republicans held a 70-30 majority heading into the election.

Committee chair fundraising

State legislative committee chairs set a committee’s legislative agenda. Some committee chairs raise significantly more money than their non-chair counterparts in the state legislature. The average amount raised by delegates who did not serve as a committee chair was $106,925. The funds raised by each of the House’s 16 committee chairs are shown below.

  • Commerce, Small Business and Economic Development Committee – Bob Morris – $52,600
  • Courts and Criminal Code Committee – Wendy McNamara – $170,539
  • Education Committee – Robert Behning – $199,361
  • Elections and Apportionment Committee – Timothy Wesco – $46,902
  • Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee – Heath VanNatter – $73,871
  • Family, Children and Human Affairs Committee – Dale DeVon – $298,595
  • Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee – Martin Carbaugh – $380,177
  • Government and Regulatory Reform Committee – Doug Miller – $57,487
  • House Joint Rules Committee – Todd Huston – $1,388,175
  • House Judiciary Committee – Gerald Torr – $244,192
  • House Local Government Committee – Dennis Zent – $55,455
  • House Public Policy Committee – Ben Smaltz – $100,850
  • Public Health Committee – Bradford Barrett – $160,533
  • Roads and Transportation Committee – Jim Pressel – $176,270
  • Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee – Edmond Soliday – $124,356
  • Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee – Randy Frye – $187,807

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Indiana PACs submitted to the Indiana Secretary of State. Political expenditures that are not controlled by candidates or their campaigns, known as satellite spending, are not included in candidate totals. Federal PACs are not required to report to state agencies. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines.

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.