Indiana

Live Indiana Election Day updates: GOP governor’s race, Statehouse seats up for grabs

Published

2 years ago

May 7, 2024

Live Indiana Election Day updates: GOP governor’s race, Statehouse seats up for grabs

IndyStar reporters will spend Election Day talking to voters, candidates and poll workers. Follow along from the polls open to close and check back for race results this evening.

Where can I vote in the 2024 primary election?

Polls are open in Indiana from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

In Marion and Johnson counties, you can vote at any polling location in the county, known as vote centers. A list of Marion County vote centers is available at vote.indy.gov/vote-centers. A list of Johnson County vote centers is available here.

In Hamilton County, voters have to cast ballots in their assigned precincts. To find your polling location, visit indianavoters.in.gov.

Live somewhere else? Check this list to see if your county uses vote centers. Or visit your county clerk’s website.

You must present a valid photo ID to vote in person. Visit the Secretary of State’s website for more information on acceptable forms of ID.

— Kayla Dwyer

Homework to prep for the polls: Everything you need to know about 2024 Indiana primary election

Republican gubernatorial primary is marquee race

This is a gubernatorial primary unlike any other: Six candidates, several of them very well funded, have been duking it out for the nomination, with one candidate starting his campaign exactly three years ago.

Polls have shown U.S. Sen. Mike Braun with a comfortable lead over Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, former commerce Secretary Brad Chambers, Fort Wayne entrepreneur Eric Doden, former Attorney General Curtis Hill and Indianapolis mother Jamie Reitenour. But they’ve also shown a sizeable contingent of voters undecided ― a large enough portion for the other candidates to hold out hope, especially because one candidate could win with about 20% of the vote.

More: Read our profiles of all the Republican gubernatorial candidates

There’s only one Democratic candidate for governor: former state schools superintendent Jennifer McCormick. Most observers consider this primary to be the main competition for governor. It would take a significant amount of resources and unique conditions for the Democratic candidate to defeat the Republican nominee in November, given the deep-red demographics in Indiana, and thus far, McCormick hasn’t shown signs of amassing such resources.

— Kayla Dwyer

Open Congressional seats draw major competition

Three Indiana representatives in the U.S. House are giving up their seats this election. One of them, U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, is running for Senate. (That’s another race to watch, by the way ― Banks is unopposed for the Republican nomination, but there are two Democrats vying to run against him in the general election.)

Two congressional districts that are in central Indiana, the 5th and the 6th Congressional Districts, have a lot of competition and a striking amount of self-funding.

In the 5th district, which includes Hamilton County, many Republicans jumped into the primary because they thought incumbent Rep. Victoria Spartz was not going to run again, as she stated previously. But she changed her mind, and now that race appears to be a head-to-head between Spartz and state Rep. Chuck Goodrich. Goodrich has loaned $4.6 million to his campaign; Spartz, $700,000 as of May 3.

More: Here’s who is running against Spartz and Goodrich in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District

More: With Greg Pence out, 7 Republicans vie for Indy-based 6th Congressional District

In the 6th district, which includes Johnson and southern Marion counties, seven Republicans are vying to replace retiring Rep. Greg Pence. They include former Indianapolis mayoral candidate Jefferson Shreve, state Rep. Mike Speedy and state Sen. Jeff Raatz, former lawmakers like John Jacob and Bill Frazier, and political newcomers Jamison Carrier and Darin Childress. Several of these candidates, particularly Shreve, also loaned hefty sums to their campaigns.

— Kayla Dwyer

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Indiana

Police arrest suspect in Westfield homicide

Published

11 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Police arrest suspect in Westfield homicide

WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — Police have arrested someone in connection to a homicide earlier this month in the Hamilton County city.

In a Friday night social media post, the Westfield Police Department announced the arrest but gave no details, including who was arrested or what preliminary charges the person may face.

“Due to the active nature of this case, limited details are available for release at this time,” the post said.

As WISHTV.com previously reported, James “Matt” Lushin, 47, was found dead shortly after 7:25 p.m. March 12 with trauma at his home in the 3900 block of Westfield Road, also known as State Road 32.

Social media posts from the scene showed police tape and emergency vehicles at a red brick house between Shady Nook Road and Gray Road.

Lushin’s obituary said the Kokomo native was a key partner with the real estate investment company, FLF Property. The obituary also said, “Matt was also a respected and accomplished member of the international poker community. He traveled the world competing in tournaments and built an impressive and successful career.”

Police have previously said the death was believed to be isolated, posing no ongoing threat.

Officials have not released a specific cause or manner of death.

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Indiana

Retro Indy: Five years ago Covid confined March Madness to Indiana

Published

23 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Retro Indy: Five years ago Covid confined March Madness to Indiana

Just three days before Selection Sunday in March of 2020, the NCAA announced that March Madness, like so many other events that spring, would be cancelled due to the new virus upending life. The decision marked the first time in tournament history that the final weeks of the college basketball season would not be played, squashing Atlanta’s plans to host the Final Four.

When the following year rolled around, the NCAA decided that March Madness would not succumb to the virus once more.

With a vaccine only on the horizon and hundreds of Americans still dying each day, the organization announced in November of 2020 that while the tournament would go on, it would certainly not be business as usual. All 67 games, NCAA officials said, would be held in one location. Central Indiana was the first choice as Indianapolis had been on tap to host the Final Four April 3-5.

The plan, said NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt in a November 2020 IndyStar article was to present “a safe, responsible and fantastic March Madness tournament unlike any other we’ve experienced.”

In January the NCAA made it official: All games would be played in and around Indianapolis in a modified version of a bubble.

Holding the tournament in one place just made sense, NCAA officials told IndyStar. Unlike in a typical year when a winning team would travel multiple times before the championship, this system would minimize travel, which could inadvertently expose players and coaches to the virus.

Two months later when the tournament kicked off on March 18, 55 of the 67 games were scheduled to be played in Indianapolis venues, such as Gainbridge (then Bankers Life) Fieldhouse, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indiana Farmers Coliseum and Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse. Purdue’s Mackey Arena and IU’s Assembly Hall also hosted games.

While the first Covid vaccine had arrived a few months earlier, few people outside of first responders and the most vulnerable had been immunized, so in an effort to avoid large crowds, the Indianapolis sites all capped tickets at 25% capacity. That meant only 17,500 people could attend games at the largest venue, Lucas Oil Stadium. The college arenas allowed far smaller audiences, with IU limiting attendance to 500 people.

A week before the tournament began Marion County Public Health Department officials and Mayor Joe Hogsett asked attendees to make smart public health choices, such as social distancing and obeying the face masks mandate. Referees donned masks as much as possible as did coaches and players on the bench.

The NCAA regularly tested athletes, administering 28,311 tests Covid tests during the tournament, 15 of which came back positive.

Post-mortems after the tournament asked whether the NCAA had made the right call. Two high profile deaths occurred in the aftermath of the tournament — one a University of Alabama superfan who had traveled to Indy for the games and the other a St. Elmo bartender. But proving a direct link between their deaths and the tournament would prove impossible, and some public health experts said the NCAA had done everything it could to protect athletes and fans short of canceling the event.

A study conducted by IU, Regenstrief researchers and others that appeared in August 2021 in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that while mask wearing had theoretically been compulsory, about a quarter of attendees at the games were either not wearing masks or doing so inappropriately. Still, in an IndyStar article about the study Indiana Sports Corps president Ryan Vaughn termed the event “a resounding success.”

The following year, with a vaccine widely available and far fewer daily deaths from the virus, the tournament returned to a typical schedule, concluding in New Orleans’ Ceasars Superdome. More than 69,00 fans attended the final games, according to the NCAA. Local authorities had lifted the mask requirement by this point.

“Last year was about survival. Just having championships in any way, single site, keep everybody safe and be successful,” Gavitt said in an NCAA news release in late April 2022. “I think this year was about advancing.”

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Federal legislation that Braun calls ‘crazy’ is aimed at Bears and Indiana – Indianapolis Business Journal

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

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Federal legislation that Braun calls ‘crazy’ is aimed at Bears and Indiana – Indianapolis Business Journal

U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Greg Casar, D-Texas, say the bill would protect taxpayers from being extorted by team owners for huge subsidies. The legislation would likely face an uphill climb in the Republican-controlled Congress.

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