Primary election results | How Indiana will handle abortion

Justin Haney and others vote at the Harrison Center for The Arts voting site during the 2022 Indiana Primary Tuesday, May 3, 2022 in Indianapolis, Ind.
Justin Haney and others vote at the Harrison Center for The Arts voting site during the 2022 Indiana Primary Tuesday, May 3, 2022 in Indianapolis, Ind.
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You'll likely get a reprieve from TV and Facebook political election ads for a bit now that the May primary is over.

You can checkout all the local and Statehouse race results on the IndyStar website, but our major takeaway was that at the Statehouse level, the establishment Republicans largely kept control despite a deluge of primary challengers backed by far-right activist groups.

The far-right Liberty Defense PAC has endorsed 26 candidates in the May primary— many of whom faced Republican lawmakers seeking reelection. Only five of those candidates won the primary. And only one was a Statehouse newcomer who defeated an incumbent.

Meanwhile House lawmakers were able to oust two far right members from their own caucus.

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Pro-Trump Republican wins in 1st District

Without a contested Senate race on the ballot, the big races to watch were in Congress. In Indiana's 1st Congressional District Republican primary, Jennifer-Ruth Green easily defeated the other frontrunner in the race, Blair Milo. Based on unofficial numbers, Green was poised to beat Milo by nearly 25 percentage points.

The results show that mentioning former President Donald Trump can still help a campaign. Green spent the latter portion of her campaign bashing her opponent for not supporting Trump in early 2016.

Green will face Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan in November in what experts are saying could be a competitive race for the first time in memory.

Former Sen. Houchin wins in 9th District

Former state Sen. Erin Houchin claimed victory in the crowded Indiana 9th Congressional District Republican primary Tuesday night, the only district in the state that won't feature an incumbent lawmaker come November.

Houchin was able to best eight other Republicans, including Mike Sodrel, a former U.S. representative who relied on $725,000 worth of personal loans.

The primary was the challenging part; Houchin is likely to win the general election because of the right-leaning nature of the district. She will face Democrat Matt Fyfe.

Andrea Hunley wins big in Indianapolis

Indianapolis Public Schools principal Andrea Hunley rose to the top in the very crowded Democratic contest for Senate District 46. She's one of four candidates who "beat the slate" on Tuesday, defeating their party-backed opponents.

But Hunley didn't want to focus on divisions within the Marion County Democratic Party when we spoke to her after her win.

"We are all Democrats, we are all a family, and sometimes families have struggles," she said. "But we will all come together. Will it take time? Absolutely."

...but slated candidates win, too

Marion County Party Chair Kate Sweeney Bell, though, won the clerk's office despite significant pushback to the party's powers-that-be.

So is this the end of slating? Now that the election's over, Mayor Joe Hogsett — himself accused of stacking votes in the slating or "pre-primary convention" endorsement process — publicly said so.

"While there are historic reasons for its existence, it has become clear in recent years that the decades-old convention endorsement process no longer serves such a purpose," Hogsett said in a statement. "As a result, I am calling on the Marion County Democratic Party to commit itself to an open primary process in next year's municipal elections and to strongly consider abandoning the practice altogether moving forward."

Pence-backed candidate ousts incumbent

Across state lines over in Ohio, the focus was largely on how Trump candidates performed. But here in Indiana, his endorsements were in races where there either was no competition or the threat was minimal.

Pence can claim a win though: Greg Garrison, whom Pence had backed, ousted long-time incumbent D. Lee Buckingham in the Republican primary for Hamilton County prosecutor.

If he wins the so-far uncontested November general election, Garrison would be the first Hamilton County prosecutor in at least 44 years to fill the top job from the outside, which means there would likely be some staff changes.

This race is still too close to call

The results of the Republican primary for House District 32, located primarily in Hamilton County, remains too close to call two days after Election Day and could come down to provisional ballots in Marion County.

As of Friday morning Hamilton County Councilor Fred Glynn led Fishers resident Suzie Jaworowski by only six votes. That just goes to show how much getting out voters truly matters in a primary.

What could happen to abortion access in Indiana

A leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court decision indicates a majority of the court's justices have voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, leading to protests across the country including in Indiana.

What could it mean for Indiana? Already a majority of Indiana lawmakers have asked Gov. Eric Holcomb to call a special session to address abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Holcomb hasn't publicly said what he plans to do, but he has signed other abortion restricting bills.

"Before further commenting on a leaked draft document out of the Supreme Court, like the rest of the country, I’ll wait to review the official and final decision they release on the matter," he said in a statement Tuesday.

Politico: Spartz' office struggles with retention

Politico published a piece Friday morning on U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz's woeful retention record, after she had the most staff turnover in the House last year.

According to eight people who talked to Politico, Spartz was described as an "unpredictable boss whose temper can rocket from tepid to boiling." Politico also reported that GOP leadership has tried to address her performance as a boss twice, and that Spartz has created an "unhealthy work environment."

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Hoosier Politics is compiled and written by the IndyStar politics and government team. Send us tips or let us know what you think of the newsletter by emailing Kaitlin.Lange@IndyStar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Primary election results | How Indiana will handle abortion