Republicans Expand Supermajority In Indiana House, Only Lose One Seat In Senate

Republicans strengthened their grip on the Indiana House of Representatives in the 2020 election. The final Statehouse races were called Thursday.

Democrats came into this fall’s election aiming to break the Republican supermajority in the House. That’s when one party has enough seats – more than two-thirds of the chamber – to conduct legislative business without a single member of the minority party present.

But Republicans grew their supermajority by four seats. Rep. Chris Chyung (D-Dyer), Rep. Lisa Beck (D-Hebron), Rep. Ross Deal (D-Mishawaka), Rep. Melanie Wright (D-Yorktown) and Rep. Terry Goodin (D-Austin) each lost their re-election bids. Chyung and Beck were both defeated by the Republican lawmakers they previously beat in 2018.

And Democrats were only able to defeat a single House Republican, Rep. Cindy Kirchhofer (R-Beech Grove).

In the Senate, Democrats were able to pick up a seat, as Sen. John Ruckelshaus (R-Indianapolis) lost, while Republicans held on to the rest of their races. But the GOP still holds a supermajority in that chamber, too.

Republicans have had a supermajority in the Senate since 2010 and in the House since 2012.

Seats that flipped:

• House District 7: Rep. Ross Deal lost to Republican Jake Teshka
• House District 15: Rep. Chris Chyung lost to Republican Hal Slager
• House District 19: Rep. Lisa Beck lost to Julie Olthoff
• House District 35: Rep. Melanie Wright lost to Elizabeth Rowray
• House District 66: Rep. Terry Goodin lost to Zach Payne
• House District 89: Rep. Cindy Kirchhofer lost to Mitch Gore
• Senate District 30: Sen. John Ruckelshaus lost to Fady Qaddoura

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.