Indiana Secretary of State election, 2018

	2022 → ← 2014
Indiana Secretary of State
Election details
	Filing deadline: July 16, 2018
	Primary: N/A; General: November 6, 2018; Pre-election incumbent(s):; Connie Lawson (Republican)
How to vote
	Poll times: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Voting in Indiana
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2018; Impact of term limits in 2018; State government trifectas and triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
Indiana; executive elections
	Secretary of state; Treasurer; Auditor

Indiana held an election for secretary of state on November 6, 2018.

In Indiana, political parties nominate state executive candidates at their conventions instead of holding a primary. The Republican Party convention took place on June 9, and the Democratic Party convention took place on June 16. Following the convention, the political parties submit their nominations to the state elections board to be certified for the ballot. These nominations had to be submitted by July 16, 2018.^[1]

All minor party and independent candidates must file signed petitions of nomination with the Secretary of State's Office in order to be certified for the general election ballot. These petitions had to be submitted by July 16, 2018.^[1] Because a Libertarian Party candidate won at least 2 percent but less than 10 percent of the vote cast for Indiana Secretary of State in the last election held for the office in 2014, the party nominated general election candidates during its convention's business meeting on May 5, 2018. Libertarian Party nominations also had to be submitted by July 16, 2018.^[1]

For more information on secretary of state elections in 2018, click here.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the election, the sitting secretary of state was Connie Lawson (R), who was first appointed to the position in April 2012 following the resignation of Charlie White (R). Lawson was elected to a full term in 2014 and announced on May 4, 2017, that she would seek election to a second full term in 2018.
At the time of the 2018 election, Indiana was a Republican trifecta. It first gained this status in 2011, when the Republican Party gained a majority in the Indiana House of Representatives. Indiana was a Republican triplex in 2018.
In the five presidential elections leading up to the 2018 election, Indiana was won by the Republican nominee in 2000, 2004, 2012, and 2016 and by the Democratic nominee in 2008. The widest margin of victory was George W. Bush's 20.7 percent margin in 2004 while the narrowest was Barack Obama's one percent margin in 2008.

Candidates and election results[edit]

General election

General election for Indiana Secretary of State

Incumbent Connie Lawson defeated Jim Harper and Mark Rutherford in the general election for Indiana Secretary of State on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Connie Lawson (R)	56.2	1,263,074
	Jim Harper (D)	40.6	911,546
	Mark Rutherford (L)	3.2	71,234
	Other/Write-in votes	0.0	905

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,246,759
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Write-in candidates[edit]

George Wolfe (Green)

Jeremy Heath (Pirate Party)

State overview[edit]

Partisan control[edit]

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Indiana heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation[edit]

Following the 2016 elections, one Democrat and one Republican held the U.S. Senate seats in Indiana.
Republicans held seven of nine U.S. House seats in Indiana.

State executives[edit]

As of May 2018, Republicans held seven of 14 state executive positions, and seven positions were held by nonpartisan or independent officials.
The governor of Indiana was Republican Eric Holcomb.

State legislature[edit]

Republicans controlled both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly. They had a 70-30 majority in the state House and a 41-9 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status[edit]

Indiana was a Republican trifecta, meaning the Republican Party held control of the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature.

2018 elections[edit]

See also: Indiana elections, 2018

Indiana held elections for the following positions in 2018:

Demographics[edit]

Demographic data for Indiana
	Indiana	U.S.
Total population:	6,612,768	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	35,826	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	84.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	9.2%	12.6%
Asian:	1.9%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	6.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	87.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	24.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$49,255	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	18.4%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Indiana. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2016, Indiana had a population of approximately 6,600,000 people, with its three largest cities being Indianapolis (pop. est. 856,000), Fort Wayne (pop. est. 265,000), and Evansville (pop. est. 119,000).^[2]^[3] The chart on the right shows demographic information for Indiana from 2010 to 2015.

State election history[edit]

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Indiana from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Indiana Secretary of State.^[4]

Historical elections[edit]

Presidential elections[edit]

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Indiana every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Indiana 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	56.8%	Hillary Clinton	37.9%	18.9%
2012	Mitt Romney	54.1%	Barack Obama	43.9%	10.2%
2008	Barack Obama	50.0%	John McCain	48.9%	1.1%
2004	George W. Bush	59.9%	John Kerry	39.3%	20.6%
2000	George W. Bush	56.7%	Al Gore	41.0%	15.7%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016[edit]

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Indiana from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Indiana 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Todd Young	52.1%	Evan Bayh	42.4%	9.7%
2012	Joe Donnelly	50.0%	Richard Mourdock	44.3%	5.7%
2010	Dan Coats	54.6%	Brad Ellsworth	40.0%	14.6%
2006	Richard Lugar	87.3%	Steve Osborn	12.6%	74.7%
2004	Evan Bayh	61.7%	Marvin Scott	37.2%	24.5%
2000	Richard Lugar	66.5%	David Johnson	31.9%	34.6%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016[edit]

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Indiana.

Election results (Governor), Indiana 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Eric Holcomb	51.4%	John R. Gregg	45.4%	6.0%
2012	Mike Pence	50.0%	John R. Gregg	46.6%	3.4%
2008	Mitch Daniels	57.8%	Jill Long Thompson	40.1%	17.7%
2004	Mitch Daniels	53.2%	Joe Kernan	45.5%	7.7%
2000	Frank O'Bannon	56.6%	David M. McIntosh	41.7%	14.9%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016[edit]

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Indiana in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Indiana 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	7	77.8%	2	22.2%	R+5
2014	7	77.8%	2	22.2%	R+5
2012	6	66.7%	3	33.3%	R+3
2010	4	44.4%	5	55.6%	D+1
2008	4	44.4%	5	55.6%	D+1
2006	7	77.8%	2	22.2%	R+5
2004	6	66.7%	3	33.3%	R+3
2002	6	66.7%	3	33.3%	R+3
2000	6	66.7%	3	33.3%	R+3

Trifectas, 1992-2017[edit]

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Indiana Party Control: 1992-2022
No Democratic trifectas • Fourteen years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Pivot Counties[edit]

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Five of 92 Indiana counties—5 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County	Trump margin of victory in 2016	Obama margin of victory in 2012	Obama margin of victory in 2008
Delaware County, Indiana	13.43%	3.12%	14.98%
LaPorte County, Indiana	6.33%	12.57%	22.04%
Perry County, Indiana	18.55%	11.59%	22.84%
Porter County, Indiana	6.59%	3.90%	7.20%
Vigo County, Indiana	14.97%	0.86%	15.83%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Indiana with 56.9 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 37.8 percent. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) was Trump's running mate. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Indiana voted Republican 83.33 percent of the time and Democratic 16.67 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Indiana voted Republican four times and Democratic once when it voted for Barack Obama in 2008.

Presidential results by legislative district[edit]

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Indiana. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.^[5]^[6]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 28 out of 100 state House districts in Indiana with an average margin of victory of 32.8 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 25 out of 100 state House districts in Indiana with an average margin of victory of 32.9 points. Clinton won one district controlled by a Republican heading into the 2018 elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 72 out of 100 state House districts in Indiana with an average margin of victory of 25.3 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 75 out of 100 state House districts in Indiana with an average margin of victory of 34.3 points. Trump won six districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

2016 Presidential Results by state House District '
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin	Party Control
1	74.02%	24.38%	D+49.6	69.13%	26.57%	D+42.6	D
2	91.24%	8.20%	D+83	86.86%	10.81%	D+76.1	D
3	85.10%	14.01%	D+71.1	76.56%	20.48%	D+56.1	D
4	46.94%	51.38%	R+4.4	44.02%	50.44%	R+6.4	R
5	43.96%	54.42%	R+10.5	42.04%	52.89%	R+10.8	R
6	65.56%	32.91%	D+32.6	62.43%	32.71%	D+29.7	D
7	49.21%	49.37%	R+0.2	42.98%	52.50%	R+9.5	D
8	50.73%	47.97%	D+2.8	48.45%	46.84%	D+1.6	D
9	60.14%	37.95%	D+22.2	51.04%	43.89%	D+7.1	D
10	58.94%	39.04%	D+19.9	48.29%	45.87%	D+2.4	D
11	41.85%	56.39%	R+14.5	32.04%	62.83%	R+30.8	R
12	53.19%	45.32%	D+7.9	51.20%	44.04%	D+7.2	D
13	34.43%	63.03%	R+28.6	25.19%	69.21%	R+44	R
14	83.05%	16.18%	D+66.9	77.49%	19.96%	D+57.5	D
15	46.17%	52.52%	R+6.4	42.67%	53.12%	R+10.5	R
16	38.06%	59.58%	R+21.5	24.96%	70.45%	R+45.5	R
17	33.98%	64.01%	R+30	25.85%	69.06%	R+43.2	R
18	26.77%	71.19%	R+44.4	20.36%	74.88%	R+54.5	R
19	47.78%	50.75%	R+3	42.72%	52.73%	R+10	R
20	47.61%	50.07%	R+2.5	34.89%	59.54%	R+24.7	R
21	39.78%	58.56%	R+18.8	33.73%	61.94%	R+28.2	R
22	23.30%	74.84%	R+51.5	19.91%	75.20%	R+55.3	R
23	36.08%	61.21%	R+25.1	24.21%	70.73%	R+46.5	R
24	31.59%	66.93%	R+35.3	40.35%	53.30%	R+13	R
25	36.30%	61.32%	R+25	27.19%	67.54%	R+40.3	R
26	49.86%	47.78%	D+2.1	50.02%	43.22%	D+6.8	R
27	51.92%	45.41%	D+6.5	48.64%	44.84%	D+3.8	D
28	27.16%	71.07%	R+43.9	24.52%	69.75%	R+45.2	R
29	30.84%	67.12%	R+36.3	32.24%	61.50%	R+29.3	R
30	44.78%	52.78%	R+8	32.84%	61.89%	R+29.1	R
31	40.25%	57.59%	R+17.3	28.83%	66.42%	R+37.6	R
32	31.06%	66.81%	R+35.7	23.91%	70.93%	R+47	R
33	39.69%	58.25%	R+18.6	25.55%	69.80%	R+44.2	R
34	61.63%	35.68%	D+25.9	52.44%	41.78%	D+10.7	D
35	41.75%	56.04%	R+14.3	30.87%	64.18%	R+33.3	D
36	52.89%	44.86%	D+8	41.75%	53.32%	R+11.6	D
37	35.26%	63.23%	R+28	40.95%	53.05%	R+12.1	R
38	33.79%	64.07%	R+30.3	23.90%	71.40%	R+47.5	R
39	32.92%	65.53%	R+32.6	40.88%	53.34%	R+12.5	R
40	36.23%	62.08%	R+25.8	35.50%	58.61%	R+23.1	R
41	29.51%	67.92%	R+38.4	22.67%	71.80%	R+49.1	R
42	39.22%	58.41%	R+19.2	26.29%	69.50%	R+43.2	R
43	55.30%	42.73%	D+12.6	45.56%	49.83%	R+4.3	D
44	31.50%	66.22%	R+34.7	21.02%	74.48%	R+53.5	R
45	36.84%	61.06%	R+24.2	24.84%	71.19%	R+46.4	R
46	38.55%	59.25%	R+20.7	31.57%	63.54%	R+32	R
47	29.10%	68.87%	R+39.8	24.16%	70.65%	R+46.5	R
48	38.56%	59.90%	R+21.3	32.75%	62.92%	R+30.2	R
49	33.11%	65.49%	R+32.4	32.54%	63.39%	R+30.9	R
50	33.14%	65.13%	R+32	27.01%	68.02%	R+41	R
51	34.00%	63.93%	R+29.9	24.48%	70.78%	R+46.3	R
52	31.00%	67.27%	R+36.3	24.47%	70.89%	R+46.4	R
53	30.23%	67.35%	R+37.1	23.85%	70.13%	R+46.3	R
54	38.63%	58.47%	R+19.8	24.91%	69.53%	R+44.6	R
55	33.15%	64.51%	R+31.4	22.12%	73.36%	R+51.2	R
56	42.11%	55.91%	R+13.8	33.19%	62.25%	R+29.1	R
57	30.69%	67.09%	R+36.4	23.49%	71.18%	R+47.7	R
58	31.41%	66.58%	R+35.2	27.77%	66.87%	R+39.1	R
59	37.11%	60.82%	R+23.7	31.83%	62.16%	R+30.3	R
60	39.41%	58.45%	R+19	34.82%	60.63%	R+25.8	R
61	69.90%	27.39%	D+42.5	75.00%	20.08%	D+54.9	D
62	40.31%	57.59%	R+17.3	34.37%	60.99%	R+26.6	R
63	30.08%	67.97%	R+37.9	22.31%	72.84%	R+50.5	R
64	32.42%	65.53%	R+33.1	24.93%	70.82%	R+45.9	R
65	34.17%	63.45%	R+29.3	25.48%	69.95%	R+44.5	R
66	43.12%	54.94%	R+11.8	30.53%	65.36%	R+34.8	D
67	33.59%	63.85%	R+30.3	20.50%	75.70%	R+55.2	R
68	28.25%	69.83%	R+41.6	19.20%	77.08%	R+57.9	R
69	36.52%	60.78%	R+24.3	22.82%	72.40%	R+49.6	R
70	36.18%	61.71%	R+25.5	27.10%	68.70%	R+41.6	R
71	50.92%	47.20%	D+3.7	44.56%	50.60%	R+6	D
72	42.89%	55.41%	R+12.5	38.96%	56.02%	R+17.1	R
73	36.02%	61.42%	R+25.4	22.93%	72.72%	R+49.8	R
74	44.73%	53.00%	R+8.3	31.06%	63.50%	R+32.4	R
75	37.34%	60.55%	R+23.2	28.95%	66.32%	R+37.4	R
76	39.60%	58.59%	R+19	32.85%	62.36%	R+29.5	R
77	57.50%	40.60%	D+16.9	52.56%	42.87%	D+9.7	D
78	37.34%	61.05%	R+23.7	35.16%	60.59%	R+25.4	R
79	28.95%	69.22%	R+40.3	21.65%	73.97%	R+52.3	R
80	78.11%	20.64%	D+57.5	74.22%	22.20%	D+52	D
81	44.14%	53.80%	R+9.7	40.62%	53.82%	R+13.2	R
82	30.25%	67.78%	R+37.5	21.96%	73.57%	R+51.6	R
83	31.27%	67.18%	R+35.9	29.98%	65.17%	R+35.2	R
84	34.51%	63.98%	R+29.5	33.23%	62.10%	R+28.9	R
85	31.58%	66.88%	R+35.3	27.71%	67.59%	R+39.9	R
86	57.98%	40.35%	D+17.6	64.62%	29.75%	D+34.9	D
87	49.95%	48.31%	D+1.6	55.89%	38.06%	D+17.8	D
88	34.66%	63.88%	R+29.2	37.37%	57.03%	R+19.7	R
89	47.75%	50.14%	R+2.4	43.77%	50.93%	R+7.2	R
90	34.68%	63.24%	R+28.6	32.08%	62.11%	R+30	R
91	37.73%	59.66%	R+21.9	31.71%	62.40%	R+30.7	R
92	51.81%	46.05%	D+5.8	49.25%	45.19%	D+4.1	D
93	34.28%	63.70%	R+29.4	32.89%	61.93%	R+29	R
94	82.54%	16.46%	D+66.1	82.29%	14.31%	D+68	D
95	77.93%	21.08%	D+56.8	75.26%	21.28%	D+54	D
96	84.99%	13.71%	D+71.3	83.70%	12.01%	D+71.7	D
97	53.11%	44.02%	D+9.1	48.46%	45.17%	D+3.3	D
98	82.27%	16.60%	D+65.7	78.54%	18.32%	D+60.2	D
99	83.25%	15.77%	D+67.5	80.80%	15.76%	D+65	D
100	61.83%	35.60%	D+26.2	59.68%	34.20%	D+25.5	D
Total	43.94%	54.15%	R+10.2	37.92%	57.16%	R+19.2	-
Source: Daily Kos

Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Indiana secretary of state election 2018. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Indiana Secretary of State election, 2018 - Google News

External links[edit]

Suggest a link

Indiana secretary of state official website

Footnotes[edit]

[guide-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Indiana Secretary of State, "2018 Indiana Candidate Guide," accessed April 10, 2018

[2] Indiana Demographics, "Indiana Cities by Population," accessed January 9, 2018

[3] U.S. Census Bureau, "Quickfacts Indiana," accessed January 9, 2018

[4] Indiana Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed September 5, 2018

[5] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013

[6] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017

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