Hamilton County, long a Republican stronghold north of Indianapolis, swung sharply toward Democrats in the midterm election, helping oust Republican incumbents from Congress to state and county offices.
The suburban county helped defeat U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, Secretary of State candidate Max Engling and Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston as part of a national sweep by Democrats that led to the GOP losing control of Congress. It also helped Democrats break the Republican supermajority in the Indiana House.
A WFYI analysis of unofficial election results for 21 contested races found Hamilton County shifted toward Democrats.
The analysis examined races for the statewide, statehouse and county offices, as well as the 5th Congressional District, which includes the entire county. It excluded down ballot races for judges, township and town offices.
WFYI found Democratic candidates won 15 seats in the county by an average margin of 8.8 percentage points. In the 13 races where they flipped a seat, they won by an average margin of 7.4 points.
Democrats did not take all offices. Republicans held six of the seats analyzed and were unopposed in four county races: assessor, coroner, prosecutor and recorder. Other offices occupied by Republicans, such as mayors of the county’s four cities, were not on the ballot.
WFYI also compared the 2026 results of competitive races to results in the 2022 and 2024 elections. The 2026 outcome indicates an overall shift away from Republicans by an average of 29.9 percentage points, excluding seven races where only Republicans previously ran. With those races included, the shift is greater.
Laura Merrifield Wilson, a professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis, said she thinks Hamilton County reflects what most Americans felt in the election: a dissatisfaction with top-of-ticket Republicans running government at the federal and state level.
"The party pendulum swung back and forth,” she said.
“Affordability was top-of-mind for many voters,” she said, “and I think if it boiled down to one particular thing, it’s the impact of affordability on a person’s life.”
Wilson said the number of state-level Democratic wins in the 2026 election have not been seen for at least a decade.
“Hamilton County, it seems like, has been increasingly competitive for political parties for both sides, and I think this election proves that as much as anything. We saw by and large Democrat dominance, but I don’t think that’s a foregone conclusion,” Wilson said.
County voter participation was 51.9% out of almost 291,000 registered voters, an increase of 7.9% since the last midterm election. There are nearly 20,000 more registered voters since 2022.
Hamilton County Democratic Party Chair Josh Lowry said he expected the party would make gains in the election, but not this many. He attributed the results to a slate of quality candidates and campaign volunteers.
“Democrats have been knocking on the door for several election cycles, and every night at the end of it, we come close, but we’re disappointed. And then this year, the wave finally hit,” he said.
The party won five of seven races in WFYI’s analysis where Republicans were previously uncontested.
Hamilton County Republican Party Chair Mario Massillamany did not respond to a WFYI request for an interview.
Congress, statewide and statehouse races
Democratic State Sen. J.D. Ford flipped the 5th Congressional District, defeating Spartz by 3.4 points across the six-county district. Hamilton County, the district’s most populous, favored Ford by 10.8 percentage points, a 22.3 point-shift from 2024 when Spartz faced another Democratic challenger. It was the first time a Democratic candidate won the seat in 34 years.
Ford, who is openly gay and became Indiana’s first out LGBTQ+ member of Congress, focused his campaign on cost-of-living, government corruption and healthcare. Spartz, who sought a fourth term, said the outcome was a “wake-up call for Indiana” and blamed “an influx of liberal voters.”
In statewide races, voters favored Democrats for secretary of state, comptroller and treasurer. Secretary of State-elect Beau Bayh won the county by 14.7 points and Jessica Bailey for comptroller by 5.5 points. Treasurer candidate Coumba Kebe carried the county by 1.9 points but incumbent Republican Treasurer Daniel Elliott won statewide.
In Indiana House and Senate races, Democratic candidates won seven of 10 seats that include Hamilton County, defeating four Republican incumbents. In a notable upset, Democrat Lauren Cole ousted Huston, the Republican Indiana House Speaker, by three points in House District 37, which includes Fishers, Cicero and Arcadia. Cole is now Indiana’s first openly lesbian state lawmaker. Huston ran unopposed in 2024 and led the failed 2025 Congressional redistricting push.
In House District 29, which includes portions of Noblesville and Fishers, voters shifted Democratic this election by 22 points, but Republican State Rep. Alaina Shonkwiler retained this seat. Shonkwiler beat challenger Devon Wellington by 4.8 points.
Republican Gov. Mike Braun acknowledged his party lost the election because of affordability, and said he would work with Democrats. Braun is up for reelection in 2028.
County races
Democrats flipped two of six county offices.
Alexandra Wilson defeated Hamilton County Election Administrator Beth Sheller for county clerk, and Charles Hollowell was elected sheriff. Hollowell, of the Westfield Police Department, will be the county’s first Black sheriff. Democrats also defeated incumbents in three of four county council seats.
Republican Christine Altman held her county commissioner seat by 323 votes. Republicans were unopposed in four countywide races — assessor, coroner, prosecutor and recorder.
“For Hamilton County, it’s too early to say whether this is the beginning of a new trend or a blip,” Wilson said.
Lowry, the Democratic party chair, said the party will now focus on winning a Democratic mayoral seat next year — possibly in Carmel, Fishers or Westfield, where they won statehouse seats.
Contact WFYI data journalist Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org.
