Hamilton County voters in House District 24 and 39 won’t have an incumbent for the first time in decades

It’s the first time in at least a decade that incumbents aren’t running for the District 39 and District 24 state house seats. Those seats cover parts of Hamilton County — an up and coming political battleground area.

District 39 and District 24 are two out of five state house districts in Hamilton County, one of the most populated and fastest growing counties in the state. District 39 is south of the county and borders District 24.

That latter district includes the northwest and southwest sides of Hamilton County and stretches across the northeast and southeast sides of Boone County, which had Indiana’s second biggest population percentage increase last year of 2.4%. 

The districts have traditionally been Republican, but some political science experts say the influx of new residents could change the calculus for the first time in years. 

District 39 race

Democrat Matt McNally and Republican Danny Lopez are vying to fill the seat after Republican Jerry Torr announced last year that he would not run again after 28 years in office. 

McNally and his family have lived in Hamilton County for 10 years. Lately, he’s been door knocking in Carmel neighborhoods, to spread the word about his campaign for House District 39. 

McNally said he wants to make sure public schools receive enough funding, abortion and reproductive rights are protected, and wants more services for veterans.

“When you look at most of the people who move here, [they] move here because of the good public schools,” McNally said. 

McNally also tells constituents that he wants to address veteran suicide and housing issues so people who work in the area can afford to stay in it. 

An essential worker will only have about $14,000 for the entire year after paying for housing and transportation. That’s according to a 2022 housing study of Hamilton County.

“Property taxes for me, especially for seniors, are a big concern of mine,” McNally said. “I want to make sure that, you know, our seniors aren't getting priced out of their homes.” 
 

Doug Miller, a small business owner who McNally spoke with when he was canvassing, wants public schools to prepare students to join the workforce.

“I think there are concerns around education and how we support education and how we develop educational programs that will develop people, but then the corollary to that is, how do we keep those kids here,” Miller said. “We've got a brain drain out of the state. How do we deal with that?” 

Miller said though he hadn’t heard much about McNally before he knocked on his door, he’ll probably vote for him. 

McNally, a retired military veteran of 22 years, is running for this seat for the second time. Two years ago he went up against incumbent Republican Jerry Torr and lost by roughly five percentage points. He hopes this time will be different. 

McNally has been endorsed by organizations such as the Indiana State Teachers Association political action committee, Moms Demand Action’s action fund and the Veterans for Indiana. 
 

On the other side, Republican candidate Danny Lopez is banking on his years of political experience. He said his time as the special assistant to former Governor Mike Pence, and other roles under the Mitch Daniels administration, make him the right man for the job.

“People want to talk about public safety,” Lopez said, “not just: Are our streets safe? Are our neighborhoods safe? Which is obviously a concern. Beyond that, do we have adequate supports for our police officers and our first responders, because they grapple with incredible mental health challenges?”

Lawmakers have introduced HB 1136 in 2023 and HB 1118 in 2024, which aimed to provide Indiana first responders with funds for mental health treatment, and compensation if the first responder is unable to work. But the bills failed after their first reading. 

Lopez said he also wants to address issues related to education, like providing more support for teachers. 

“We’ve got excellent teachers and excellent administrators,” Lopez said. “So, how do you ensure that they've got resources, not just salary, but also resources in the classroom to maintain the level that we've been able to deliver for our school kids in Hamilton County.” 
 

Stephanie Flittner, a volunteer for Lopez’s campaign, said she believes he will be able to support educators.

“What I like about him is that he knows we can't just say we're going to cut property taxes or we're going to stop referendums or something like that, because in funding, it's sort of like an ecosystem, and everything you pull or touch is going to have a ripple effect across the whole pond,” Flittner said.

Lopez has been endorsed by multiple organizations including the Indy Chamber’s Business Advocacy Committee, the Indiana Fraternal Order of Police’s PAC and Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam.

District 24 race

To the left of that area is District 24.

Democrat Josh Lowry and Republican Hunter Smith are going head to head after Republican Donna Schaibley announced her retirement from the District 24 seat last year after 10 years in office. 

Lowry, a former deputy attorney general, has lived in Westfield since 2009. One of the reasons he’s running is because he wants to provide comprehensive healthcare for his children and others in the community. 

Lowry said legislators should have pressed the Family and Social Services Administration more when the state agency decided to cut some services to people with disabilities to partially make up for a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall. He believes this issue could have been avoided if the state used some of the $6.1 billion reserves that was projected in the 2022 fiscal year.

“In Indiana, it’s not an issue of enough revenue,” Lowry said. “It's an issue of what we want to spend our revenue on.”

Lowry said he wants to make sure one of Indiana’s most vulnerable populations is protected.

“I think if you went door to door in Indiana and you said, ‘Hey, we're not going to be able to cut taxes as much this year because we got to make sure that we have the services for these kids that have this medically complex issue,’ Hoosier hospitality — I guarantee you Hoosiers would step up and say that [reallocating money] is more important.”
 

In 2022, Lowry ran as a Democrat in District 21’s senate race, which covers portions of Hamilton, Howard and Tipton Counties. But he was defeated by Republican incumbent Jim Buck.

Lowry’s endorsements include Planned Parenthood of Indiana Alliance Advocates, Better Indiana and the Indiana State Teachers Association’s PAC. 

His opponent for the District 24 seat is Republican Hunter Smith, a former Indianapolis Colts punter, as well as owner and operator of WonderTree Farm.
 Some of Smith’s endorsements include the Indiana Farm Bureau’ AgELECT, Indiana Right to Life PAC and Americans for Prosperity-Indiana. 

Smith did not respond to WFYI request for interview before this story was published. According to his website, he is focused on “protecting children, empowering parents and strengthening law enforcement.”


Crime statistics have decreased locally and nationally, but there’s still work to do. Theft and operating a vehicle while intoxicated were some of Hamilton County’s top offenses last year, according to the Sheriff's Office. There were 85 thefts and 16 burglaries in 2023. That’s a decrease compared to 834 thefts and 81 burglaries in 2022. 
 

National politics and impact on local elections

Some voters on both sides worry that culture wars will detract from local issues.

Laura Merrifield Wilson, an associate professor of political sciences at the University of Indianapolis, hopes people will separate the national issues from the local ones – and not just skip the opportunity to cast their vote. 

“A lot of times, voters are inundated with political noise on immigration and issues [about] the economy that really our state legislature is less involved in,” Merrifield Wilson said. “But making a distinction between what those state policies are, where the candidates stand on them, and who best aligns with them as a voter is especially important.” 

Many of the residents in Indiana’s counties are Republican, like District 39. But Merrifield Wilson said things may change.

“So you have generally high educational attainment, high socioeconomic status, and the parties see this kind of as the breeding ground for the Democrats to flip things and for the Republicans, I think, to test out ideas that are beyond just maybe the concepts that appeal to traditional Republican voters,” Merrifield Wilson said.

The election is Nov. 5.

Contact WFYI’s health reporter Elizabeth Gabriel at egabriel@wfyi.org