Record-High Number Of Women Join The General Assembly

Seven of these are fresh faces to the Indiana Statehouse: Republicans Becky Cash, Julie McGuire, Jennifer Meltzer, Lindsay Patterson, and Lorissa Sweet and Democrats Andrea Hunley and Victoria Garcia Wilburn. Hunley is the only newly elected woman to join the Senate; the rest will be headed to the House. 

Cash defeated Democratic opponent Jen Bass-Patino 52.7% to 47.3%, with 99% of the estimated vote counted, according to The Associated Press. 

McGuire defeated state Rep. John Jacob in the primary election in May and clinched the seat with 58% of the vote, also defeating her Democratic opponent Andy Miller and Independent candidate Karl Knable. 

Meltzer, the city attorney for Shelbyville and a mother of three, said throughout her campaign that her children were her main reason behind running for office. 

“I see what our children were dealing with when it came to COVID,” she toldThe North Vernon Plain Dealer & Sun. “I think it’s important we send people to the Statehouse that have those experiences, that understand what it’s like to be a full-time working mom. Everybody needs some moms.”

Patterson defeated four other Republicans in the May primary election and ran unopposed in the general election. 

Sweet unseated longtime state Rep. Dan Leonard for the Republican party’s nomination in May and picked up 77% of the vote in the general election.  

Democrats flipped a Senate seat by electing Hunley over Republican Evan Shearin. Hunley celebrated the victory at the Democratic election watch party in downtown Indianapolis and said Democrats are building momentum for future elections. 

“It’s not just about 2022. It is about beyond this moment into the future and onto the next cycle and the cycle after that because our democracy depends on it,” Hunley said.

Garcia Wilburn claimed victory after leading Republican Fred Gynn by one percentage point before the election was called by The Associated Press. The district, which used to extend from Noblesville to Kokomo, was significantly redrawn in the 2021 redistricting process and now includes Fishers, part of Carmel, and a small portion of northern Marion County. 

Garcia Wilburn said that as a Latina, she believes more diverse perspectives are needed at the Statehouse. In atweet Tuesday, Garcia Wilburn said she’s “looking forward to bringing joy, good work and drafting even better bills in the Statehouse with [Andrea Hunley].”

The General Assembly falls just shy of matching the percentage of women in Congress, where a new record was set last year, 27.3%. These numbers have steadily increased over the last several election cycles but only represent a fraction of the women in both the state and the country, with women in the general population making up more than 50%.