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Indiana's 8th Congressional District election, 2018

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General election

General election for U.S. House Indiana District 8

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Larry_Bucshon.jpg
Larry Bucshon (R)
 
64.4
 
157,396
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/William_Tanoos.jpg
William Tanoos (D)
 
35.6
 
86,895

Total votes: 244,291
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020
2016
Indiana's 8th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: February 9, 2018
Primary: May 8, 2018
General: November 6, 2018

Pre-election incumbent:
Larry Bucshon (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Voting in Indiana
Race ratings
Cook Partisan Voter Index (2018): R+15
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
See also
Indiana's 8th Congressional District
U.S. Senate1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th
Indiana elections, 2018
U.S. Congress elections, 2018
U.S. Senate elections, 2018
U.S. House elections, 2018

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 8th Congressional District of Indiana, held elections in 2018.

Heading into the election the incumbent was Larry Bucshon (R), who was first elected in 2010.

Indiana's 8th Congressional District is based in southwest and west central Indiana and includes Clay, Daviess, Dubois, GIbson, Greene, Knox, Martin, Owen, Parke, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Sullivan, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, and Warwick counties. A portion of Crawford County is also included in the district.[1]



Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Indiana District 8

Incumbent Larry Bucshon defeated William Tanoos in the general election for U.S. House Indiana District 8 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Larry_Bucshon.jpg
Larry Bucshon (R)
 
64.4
 
157,396
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/William_Tanoos.jpg
William Tanoos (D)
 
35.6
 
86,895

Total votes: 244,291
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Indiana District 8

William Tanoos advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Indiana District 8 on May 8, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/William_Tanoos.jpg
William Tanoos
 
100.0
 
26,232

Total votes: 26,232
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Indiana District 8

Incumbent Larry Bucshon defeated Richard Moss and Rachel Covington in the Republican primary for U.S. House Indiana District 8 on May 8, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Larry_Bucshon.jpg
Larry Bucshon
 
63.0
 
34,516
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Richard_Moss.jpg
Richard Moss
 
25.2
 
13,831
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Rachel_Covington.png
Rachel Covington
 
11.8
 
6,451

Total votes: 54,798
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+15, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 15 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Indiana's 8th Congressional District the 80th most Republican nationally.[2]

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.01. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.01 points toward that party.[3]

Campaign finance

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Larry Bucshon Republican Party $969,956 $1,048,586 $234,231 As of December 31, 2018
William Tanoos Democratic Party $229,897 $229,897 $0 As of November 29, 2018

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.


District history

2016

See also: Indiana's 8th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Larry Bucshon (R) won re-election in 2016. Bucshon defeated Ron Drake (D) and Andrew Horning (L) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Bucshon defeated Richard Moss in the Republican primary. On the other side of the aisle, Ron Drake defeated David Orentlicher to win the Democratic nomination. The Democratic primary race remained uncalled for months following the election. The primary elections took place on May 3, 2016.[4][5][6][7]

U.S. House, Indiana District 8 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngLarry Bucshon Incumbent 63.7% 187,702
     Democratic Ron Drake 31.7% 93,356
     Libertarian Andrew Horning 4.6% 13,655
Total Votes 294,713
Source: Indiana Division of Elections


U.S. House, Indiana District 8 Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngLarry Buchson Incumbent 65% 72,889
Richard Moss 35% 39,168
Total Votes 112,057
Source: Indiana Secretary of State
U.S. House, Indiana District 8 Democratic Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngRon Drake 50.1% 29,270
David Orentlicher 49.9% 29,206
Total Votes 58,476
Source: Indiana Secretary of State

2014

See also: Indiana's 8th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 8th Congressional District of Indiana held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Larry Bucshon (R) defeated Tom Spangler (D) and Andy Horning (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, Indiana District 8 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngLarry Bucshon Incumbent 60.3% 103,344
     Democratic Tom Spangler 35.8% 61,384
     Libertarian Andrew Horning 3.8% 6,587
Total Votes 171,315
Source: Indiana Secretary of State Official Results

Pivot Counties

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

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.[8][9]

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.

State overview

Partisan control

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

Congressional delegation

State executives

  • 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

  • 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

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

2018 elections

See also: Indiana elections, 2018

Indiana held elections for the following positions in 2018:

Demographics

Demographic data for Indiana
 IndianaU.S.
Total population:6,612,768316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):35,8263,531,905
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).[10][11] The chart on the right shows demographic information for Indiana from 2010 to 2015.

State election history

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.[12]

Historical elections

Presidential elections

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 Republican Party Donald Trump 56.8% Democratic Party Hillary Clinton 37.9% 18.9%
2012 Republican Party Mitt Romney 54.1% Democratic Party Barack Obama 43.9% 10.2%
2008 Democratic Party Barack Obama 50.0% Republican Party John McCain 48.9% 1.1%
2004 Republican Party George W. Bush 59.9% Democratic Party John Kerry 39.3% 20.6%
2000 Republican Party George W. Bush 56.7% Democratic Party Al Gore 41.0% 15.7%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

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 Republican Party Todd Young 52.1% Democratic Party Evan Bayh 42.4% 9.7%
2012 Democratic Party Joe Donnelly 50.0% Republican Party Richard Mourdock 44.3% 5.7%
2010 Republican Party Dan Coats 54.6% Democratic Party Brad Ellsworth 40.0% 14.6%
2006 Republican Party Richard Lugar 87.3% Libertarian Party Steve Osborn 12.6% 74.7%
2004 Democratic Party Evan Bayh 61.7% Republican Party Marvin Scott 37.2% 24.5%
2000 Republican Party Richard Lugar 66.5% Democratic Party David Johnson 31.9% 34.6%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

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 Republican Party Eric Holcomb 51.4% Democratic Party John R. Gregg 45.4% 6.0%
2012 Republican Party Mike Pence 50.0% Democratic Party John R. Gregg 46.6% 3.4%
2008 Republican Party Mitch Daniels 57.8% Democratic Party Jill Long Thompson 40.1% 17.7%
2004 Republican Party Mitch Daniels 53.2% Democratic Party Joe Kernan 45.5% 7.7%
2000 Democratic Party Frank O'Bannon 56.6% Republican Party David M. McIntosh 41.7% 14.9%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

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 Republican Party 7 77.8% Democratic Party 2 22.2% R+5
2014 Republican Party 7 77.8% Democratic Party 2 22.2% R+5
2012 Republican Party 6 66.7% Democratic Party 3 33.3% R+3
2010 Republican Party 4 44.4% Democratic Party 5 55.6% D+1
2008 Republican Party 4 44.4% Democratic Party 5 55.6% D+1
2006 Republican Party 7 77.8% Democratic Party 2 22.2% R+5
2004 Republican Party 6 66.7% Democratic Party 3 33.3% R+3
2002 Republican Party 6 66.7% Democratic Party 3 33.3% R+3
2000 Republican Party 6 66.7% Democratic Party 3 33.3% R+3

Trifectas, 1992-2017

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

Indiana Party Control: 1992-2024
No Democratic trifectas  •  Sixteen 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 23 24
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 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 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 R R


See also

Footnotes



Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
Jim Banks (R)
District 4
Jim Baird (R)
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
Republican Party (9)
Democratic Party (2)