Indiana’s state legislative elections this year are shaping up to be generally more competitive than previous years. Voters will see the greatest number of candidates, contested primaries, and contested incumbents of any election year since 2010.
Indiana’s 2026 state legislative elections follow a December 2025 special legislative session in which the Indiana Senate voted against a mid-decade redistricting plan that would have shifted the state’s two Democratic U.S. House districts toward Republicans ahead of this year’s midterms. Ballotpedia is covering the Indiana Senate Republican primaries as a battleground election this year. Click here to read more about those primaries.
Twelve seats are open in Indiana’s state legislative elections this year, meaning no incumbents filed. That is just short of the average of 13 open seats each cycle between 2010 and 2024. As a result, at least 8% of the state’s legislature will be represented by newcomers next year.
Thirty-three incumbents face primary contests in Indiana’s state legislative elections this year, 29.2% of the 113 incumbents running and the most of any year since 2010.
Four of the contested incumbents are Democrats, and 29 are Republicans. For Democrats, that is down 20% from five in 2024. Contested Republican incumbents are up 21% from 24 in 2024.
Indiana has 66 contested state legislative primaries this year, up from 41 in 2024. The average number of contested primaries in Indiana each cycle from 2010 to 2024 was 42.
Twenty-three of this year’s primaries are for Democrats, up 188% from eight last cycle, and 43 are for Republicans, up 30% from 33 last cycle.
In total, 304 major party candidates filed to run—147 Democrats and 157 Republicans. All 100 House seats and 25 of the state’s 50 Senate seats are up for election. The average number of candidates each cycle since 2010 was 250.
Indiana has had a Republican trifecta since 2011, after Republicans won control of the House in the 2010 elections. Republicans currently have a 70-30 majority in the House and a 40-10 majority in the Senate.
Indiana's state legislative primaries are scheduled for May 5.
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