Today is Indiana’s primary election and Mirror Indy will be covering the polls and races across the city. The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 7. Follow along on X or watch this live blog for updates throughout the day.
Young leads District 35 GOP primary
Update 10:30: With 99% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press, Sen. Mike Young led political newcomer Philip Clay 55.2% to 44.8% in the Republican primary for District 35 or the Indiana Senate.
Young, 72, an attorney who lives in Indianapolis, first was elected to the Indiana House in 1986 and the Indiana Senate in 2000.
Young has long supported conservative stances on issues such as abortion, gun rights, law enforcement and taxes.
His conservatism has occasionally caused him to butt heads with party leadership. In 2022, Young, a staunch opponent of abortion rights, left the Republican caucus after its members approved rape and incest exceptions in Senate Bill 1, a measure that outlawed abortion in the state. In a letter to Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, Young said those exceptions and other professional grievances, such as his removal from some committees, led to his departure.
“I don’t work for the Senate leadership. I work for the citizens of District 35,” Young told Mirror Indy in April.
This year, he opposed Senate Bill 54, a measure introduced by Sen. Scott Baldwin, R-Noblesville, that would have allowed the Indianapolis City-County Council to force a merger of township fire departments in Marion County without the township’s approval. Young felt that decision should be made at the township level. That bill died in committee.
Young also supported a Republican-led effort that ultimately would have killed the IndyGo Blue Line bus route. He and Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, introduced a bill that sought to place a one-year moratorium on the use of dedicated lanes for the route. IndyGo said Senate Bill 52 would “effectively kill” the planned Blue Line bus route by making it ineligible for $150 million in federal funding.
No Democrats have filed to run for the district, which leans heavily Republican, for the Nov. 5 general election.
– Enrique Saenz
Ireland ahead with all vote centers reporting
UPDATE 10:15 p.m. —
Andrew Ireland, former deputy attorney general under Todd Rokita, had 38.2% of the vote in a competitive Republican primary race for House District 90, with all Marion County vote centers reporting. Elizabeth Williams, a local business owner, trailed Ireland with 36.7% of the vote.
Ireland led the field in a competitive primary race to replace longtime southeast side Rep. Mike Speedy. Others in the race include Williams; Tim McVey, who works for a storage company; and David Waters, who is a former pharmacist.
Ireland’s top campaign priorities include addressing crime in Indianapolis and advocating for school choice. Should he win in November, Ireland plans to file legislation that would allow the governor to fire local prosecutors.
This bill is aimed in large part at Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears who Ireland said is not doing enough to enforce laws in Indianapolis.
In November’s general election, the GOP’s representative is poised to face Democratic candidate Dominique Davie, who ran unopposed in the primary.
Speedy lost his primary bid for Indiana’s sixth congressional district to former Indianapolis mayoral candidate Jefferson Shreve. Rep. Greg Pence currently holds the seat, but is not running for reelection. Former Indianapolis state Rep. John Jacob and state Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond were also vying for Pence’s seat.
-Claire Rafford
Pike Township poised to increase taxes for school salaries, safety improvements
UPDATE 9:30 p.m. —
Taxes are likely to go up in Pike Township next year to support teacher salaries and school safety improvements.
With more than 80% of votes counted in Marion County, nearly 60% of township residents voted in favor of a referendum that’s expected to bring nearly $16 million annually to Pike Township Schools over eight years. Pike Superintendent Larry Young told Mirror Indy in April the tax increase was needed to offset programs and salaries supported by pandemic relief money that’s due to expire in September. The district also plans to spend money on staff retention and school safety needs such as new metal detectors.
It’s also the first time property taxes in Indiana could be directed to charter schools.
The referendum comes nearly a year after state legislators created a mechanism for charter schools in four counties including Marion to share money from tax increases sought by traditional public school districts. Fifteen area charter schools have expressed interest in joining the referendum.
However, Young told Mirror Indy in April that he believes those schools have not met requirements for sharing money from the tax increase and that he would make his case for why after the referendum passed. Because this is the first time referendum sharing could take place, it’s unclear what happens next if a school district disputes charter schools’ request to share money.
-Carley Lanich
Bartlett wins primary again
UPDATE 9:15 p.m. —
Democratic state Rep. John Bartlett once again is on his way to representing a far eastside Indiana House district, winning the Democratic primary over challenger Autumn Carter.
The Associated Press called the race with Bartlett earning 57.4% of the vote with 98% of votes counted.
It was only the second time Bartlett has had a primary opponent since getting elected to the District 95 seat in 2006. The November general election will be the ninth consecutive election cycle Bartlett is on the ballot.
District 95 includes parts of Lawrence, the Geist area and the far east side.
Bartlett has turned his attention in recent legislative sessions to preventing human trafficking. He has carried a resolution to recognize January as human trafficking awareness month and authored a bill that would have required trafficking prevention training for school employees.
Carter is an author and public speaker who also works in information technology at Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County.
Bartlett, who holds a safe Democratic seat, is typically unopposed in general elections. His last general election opponent was a Libertarian Party candidate in 2016.
Republicans have until July 3 to fill any ballot vacancies, but the GOP has not run a candidate in District 95 since 2010.
-Tyler Fenwick
Democrat Justin Moed would focus on roadwork in 7th term
UPDATE 8:30 p.m. —
With half of the vote counted, the Associated Press called the House District 97 primary around 8:20 p.m. for Democratic Rep. Justin Moed. He led Sarah Shydale with 80% of the vote. It was the first time Moed faced a primary challenger.
“Voters really resonate with someone who is solution-oriented and puts partisan politics aside,” Moed told Mirror Indy after his win.
Moed was first elected in 2012 to represent Indianapolis neighborhoods on the west and south sides, as well as parts of downtown. He has focused on housing issues in the Democratic-leaning district as a member of a task force that recommended the city build a low-barrier shelter, which is poised to open in 2026. His bill to end the prison-to-homelessness pipeline was also signed into law last year.
Moed told Mirror Indy if he wins in November, he will continue to focus on improving access to affordable housing and introduce a bill to change the state’s road funding formula.
“The roads in Indianapolis, to a large degree, continue to be in disrepair,” he said. “That’s because year after year, the city is not being given the appropriate amount of funding to maintain its roads.”
Moed was part of a task force that recommended the city build a low-barrier shelter, which is poised to open in 2026, and his bill to end the prison-to-homelessness pipeline was passed in 2023.
Moed will face Republican Stephen Whitmer and Libertarian Mark Renholzberger for reelection in the general election on Nov. 5.
-Mary Claire Molloy
More than 85,000 vote in primary election
UPDATE 7:20 p.m. —
Polls have closed and 85,588 people cast their ballots in Indy on May 7, the Marion County Election Board announced. That includes early voters, absentee ballots and those who made it to the polls on election day.
This number represents 13% of registered voters in the county — an increase from the 2022 primary.
Election workers are counting votes now and the county election board will meet on May 20 to verify totals. The Associated Press has already called the Indiana gubernatorial GOP primary race for U.S. Sen. Mike Braun. Follow the results live here.
-Carley Lanich
Single issue voter: marijuana legalization
UPDATE 6 p.m. —
Judith Hitt, 72, believes a conspiracy theory that Donald Trump is still president right now — but that doesn’t mean she’s backing his endorsement for Mike Braun.
“He is just another career politician,” said Hitt, a Republican living in Garfield Park. “(Braun) talks out of both sides of his mouth.”
Instead, Hitt cast her vote for Brad Chambers in Indiana’s Republican primary for governor. The winning issue? Marijuana legalization, which Chambers supports for medical use only — a rare stance among the state’s conservative politicians.
Hitt said she supports full legalization in Indiana, including for recreation.
“Marijuana benefits mankind,” she said.
-Mary Claire Molloy
Long lines to vote in Franklin Township
UPDATE 6 p.m. —
People showed up in droves to vote May 7 at the Franklin Township Government Center. At around noon, the line extended into the nearly-full parking lot.
Fran Leisring, a 79-year-old resident of the southeast side, said there wasn’t any particular issue that drew her out to vote. However, she was passionate about the governor’s race. She voted for Mike Braun because she said she liked that he was a kind of political outsider.
“He’s not been in the business a long time,” she said. “He’s been a businessman.”
Braun has been in politics for a decade. He was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 2014 before he left for the U.S. Senate in 2019.
Jim Knopf, a 64-year-old resident of Franklin Township, voted on the Republican ballot. In a competitive primary for House District 90, he cast his vote for local business owner Elizabeth Williams. Knopf said he felt like he had some things in common with Williams. She was a military veteran, like him, and he agreed with her anti-abortion stance.
“Her views align, maybe, a little more with mine,” he said.
Some voters were focused more on the national races.
Teresa Davis Lassiter, a 56-year-old living on the southeast side, wasn’t thrilled about voting for President Joe Biden in the primary. However, Lassiter considered him the “lesser of two evils” in comparison with former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
“Joe Biden is not the greatest, but I also know he’s for democracy, which is most important to me,” she said.
-Claire Rafford
Documenter visits St. Luke’s United Methodist Church
UPDATE 6 p.m. —
At 11 a.m., Documenter Michael Nolan visited St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. While there, Nolan interviewed Allen Ferreira, 79, an Indianapolis resident.
Q: What brought you out to vote today?
“Civic duty,” Ferreira said. “I lean Democrat, so I didn’t expect that there were going to be a lot of choices for me, but there are a few. I was curious.”
Q: What matters most to you?
“Typical Democratic concerns like fairness and welfare,” Ferreira said. “We’re all human beings, and we need to be kinder with each other.”
Nolan also interviewed Marci Reddick, 68, an Indianapolis resident.
Q: What brought you out to vote today?
“I vote in every election,” Reddick said. “It’s an important part of our democracy. I wanted to support the president and our elected state legislators. They’re doing a terrific job.”
Q: What issues matter most to you?
“Funding for city projects, for schools and keeping schools a place where people can express their opinion,” Reddick said. “I’m not supportive of the move to dumb down our education by restricting access to books. Educators are the ones who have better ideas about educating our children, not state legislators.”
-Michael Nolan
A protest against Democrats
UPDATE 6 p.m. —
Liz Lyle would typically mull over which Democrats to vote for in the primary.
Not today, though.
Lyle, a 64-year-old Riverside resident, pulled a Republican ballot when she voted at Barnes United Methodist Church.
Lyle said she wants local leaders who have integrity. She was talking about the mayor, city-county councilors — “any and all of them.”
She’s also concerned about homelessness.
Still, Lyle said there is hope.
“We’re standing outside of a church right now,” she said just outside of the fellowship hall doors. “I’m a believer and I believe what the word says.”
-Tyler Fenwick
West Indy Voter: I’m here for Trump and others like him
UPDATE 5:30 p.m. —
Although local candidates are on the ballot, some west side residents were drawn to the polls by the opportunity to vote for former president Donald Trump.
“I’m gonna vote because I come to support Trump. I’m not gonna lie,” said West Indianapolis resident Marilyn Garza, who was voting at Rhodius Park Family Center.
Garza, 60, said she knows more about Trump than she does about District 35’s incumbent Sen. Mike Young or his opponent, Plainfield banker Philip Clay, who are on the Republican ballot.
She said she remembers a time when candidates did more to reach voters.
“I used to bowl, and the candidates would come around there, shake hands and talk to us,” she told Mirror Indy. “We’d get to know them some. I don’t know them now.”
Garza said she heard about both candidates from ads she saw on TV. She said she voted for Young because his hardline stance on border security mirrors Trump’s, including sending National Guard troops to patrol the border.
“(Young) is one of those people I keep on my mind,” she said. “I want people that are gonna do something in (office).”
-Enrique Saenz
Documenter checks out Allisonville vote center
UPDATE 5:30 p.m. —
At 11 a.m., Documenter Kelli Jack-Kelly went to the polling location at the Allisonville Christian Church.
Kelly interviewed voter Chris Allen. Allen said he hasn’t missed an opportunity to vote in more than 40 years. He said he’s teaching his grandkids that being involved in the voting process and learning about each candidate is vital.
Kelly also interviewed Rayna Coe, who lives near Allisonville Christian Church. She said she tries to vote in every election.
“I try to teach my 13-year-old son if you want to see a change in your neighborhood, you have to be a part of it,” Coe said.
-Kelli Jack-Kelly
Documenter visits Plainfield-Guilford polling center
UPDATE 5 p.m. —
Around noon, Documenter Erica Fuller visited the Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library.
Fuller interviewed Susan Ramos, 54, an Avon resident, who said she wants to see improvements in education and public service.
Ramos, a Republican, said she’s happy with her party’s direction. She said she feels like it’s your right and duty to vote. She said she wants the education and the public service sectors to be changed from behind the scenes.
Fuller also interviewed Joe Lewis, 29, a Democrat who said this is an important election to ensure Indiana residents get someone in office to finally make a change for the better.
Lewis said he wants to see someone who hasn’t been tainted by politics run for office. He said they should be in public office to help make much needed changes from the local to statewide and national levels.
-Erica Fuller
Democrat voters say the want a better party strategy
UPDATE 5 p.m. —
Fred Miller, 34, worked on Democrat Justin Moed’s campaign videos in 2020. Now, he’s casting his vote again for the House 97 incumbent, who is facing his first ever primary challenger this year.
“We’re in a weird state of sliding more and more conservative, and Justin has done a good job of getting things done,” Miller said.
But, he said, Democrats need a better strategy to turn a solidly red state into a blue wave.
“Right now we’re focused on fighting Republicans rather than actually supporting the people of Indianapolis,” he said. “I don’t think that’s an effective policy.”
-Mary Claire Molloy
‘The Democratic Party in Indiana folded its tents’
UPDATE 4:30 p.m. —
Richard Childers has voted in every election since 1972.
The 69-year-old Democrat donned a ball cap that said ‘Speed Pro’ as he pulled up to the polls early Tuesday afternoon at Garfield Park Burrello Center. His first priority was voting for Democrat Justin Moed, who has represented House District 97 for more than a decade and faces his first primary challenge this year.
“(Moed) has tried to put a few things forward on getting rid of squatters and education,” Childers said. “But of course with the Republican supermajority, there’s not much you can do.”
Childers said there’s a new level of viciousness in the Republican party, especially in the governor’s race, where the winner of the GOP primary is expected to win in November.
“The Democratic Party in Indiana folded its tents and left,” Childers said. “It leaves me wanting to move.”
-Mary Claire Molloy
Riverside voter motivated by presidential race
UPDATE 4:30 p.m.—
John Owens, 71, lives in the Riverside neighborhood and pulled a Democratic ballot.
Owens cast his vote at an almost-empty Barnes United Methodist Church, where there had been 102 voters as of 2 p.m.
Owens was straightforward about what brought him out to the polls: He wants former President Donald Trump to go away.
“If we get rid of him,” he said, “we get rid of a lot of problems.”
-Tyler Fenwick
Documenters report from Global Village Welcome Center
UPDATE 4:30 p.m. —
Documenters Janna Thomas and Kayla Bledsoe arrived at noon at Indy’s Global Village. This polling location had lots of people standing out front engaging voters.
Bledsoe interviewed Angelica Carter, an Indy resident and a Democrat. It was Carter’s first time voting at the Indy Global Village polling site.
Q: Are you happy with your choices on the ballot today and your party?
“I’m disenfranchised by my party. I feel like nobody is fighting for the Black voter,” Carter said, adding that she feels no one cares what Black voters think. “Especially with the system and gerrymandering, where is the outrage?”
Bledsoe and Thomas also interviewed Daniel Del Real, curator at Indy’s Global Village and an Eagledale resident.
Del Real said he helped give information to voters who had never visited Indy’s Global Village. He gave them information on the gallery and upcoming events.
Del Real said he tries to be into politics, but he can’t donate to campaigns because he is not a U.S. citizen.
“This neighborhood could benefit from more school options like a high school over here,” he said, adding that he wants to see more schools that understand demographic shifts, and are actually doing something about it.
-Janna Thomas and Kayla Bledsoe
Documenter checks out Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site
UPDATE 1 p.m.— Documenter Cassandra Muller interviewed voters at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site. She arrived at the voting site around 6:30 a.m. There were no lines at all. She said you could walk in, vote and leave.
Muller interviewed Mick Peek, an Indianapolis resident.
Q: Why do you think it’s important to vote?
Peek said, “What other choice do we have? It’s our only way to impact what’s going on, so we all vote.”
Q: What qualities make a good leader or candidate?
Peek said, “Somebody who listens. There’s not enough of it.”
Q: What do you believe is the biggest issue that we’re facing today in Indy?
“Crime and high cost of living. The streets are pretty bad. I’ve lived here 40 years and it’s like a roller coaster,” Peek said. “There’s lots of development going on but it doesn’t seem to be helping the quality of life for most people. It does for the wealthy people but not the regular citizens.”
-Cassandra Muller
Look through our photo gallery of primary election day in central Indiana
Election board: More than 29K ballots cast
UPDATE 12 p.m.— The Marion County Election Board says 29,339 ballots had been cast by noon.
Daniel Goldblatt, the director of policy and communications for the Marion County Clerk’s Office, said he expects more people will vote in the afternoon.
“Some people getting off work, people on their lunch break. We are hoping to see a great turnout the last 6 hours of voting,” Goldblatt said.
He said it is hard to compare this year’s primary to the 2020 primary election because of the pandemic.
“2020 was a bit of an outlier because of COVID, more people turned in mail in ballots,” Goldblatt said.
-Darian Benson
Voting slow at Warren Central
UPDATE 9:30 a.m.— Only about 20 people had cast their ballot at the Warren Central High School vote center, according to poll inspector Dwight Williams. He said turnout usually is low in a primary election and the rain probably didn’t help.
Williams said the primary election is important on the local level. In addition to candidates for federal office, voters will choose candidates for the Indiana General Assembly and certain county offices.
“People make decisions all day long that you don’t have an input to,” WIlliams said. “By voting, you make a decision on who makes those decisions.”
Williams thinks more people will vote in the afternoon.
-Darian Benson
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
