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Indiana balance of power on the ballot

In Indiana, a supermajority means Republicans currently hold more than two-thirds of the seats in both chambers.

Cierra Putman (WTHR)

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Published: 6:47 PM EDT October 24, 2022
Updated: 7:07 PM EDT October 24, 2022

Outside of a home in Zionsville, Republican Liz Childers straightened one of her political signs. To the surprise of many, one of the candidates was not a Republican, instead a Democrat hoping to become her state representative.

"I know it's a shock to a lot of people,” Childers said. “When I put that sign in my yard. I got three text messages that same day, like, ‘What is happening?'”

Childers is a vocal member of the GOP with hopes of running for office one day as a Republican candidate. For the first time in years, her party isn’t guaranteed her vote. Instead, she tells 13News, she plans to vote split ticket – in large part because her party passed a near-total abortion ban this summer.

“It really woke me up to say, 'I’m a Republican because I believe in less government,'” she said. “I believe in getting them out of my lives. There couldn’t be any more overreach of government than telling me what I can do for myself and what decisions I make for my body.”

Her twin sister, Norma Unser, who is also a Republican, agrees. She said the abortion law is going to make her look more closely at candidates instead of just going with the candidate with an "R" by their name.

“At the federal level, yes, I’ll still be voting strictly Republican,” Unser said. “It’s at the local level that I’m going to be looking a little closer than I have before and that’s mainly because I’d like to see both sides be more moderate.”

Childers thinks there’s a lot of Republican women like her. Women who aren’t just upset with the party, but also willing to vote for a change at the Statehouse. She loves to see Republicans win, but thinks at this point the GOP’s supermajority pushes the party further to the right than she likes.

“I believe that it would be beneficial for our state to have that broken up a little bit,” Childres said. “I mean, I hate to say that, because I want to win and I want to be with the Republican Party, and I want to hold all the seats, but I also think it’s time for us in a state to be leaders about bringing us together in the middle.”

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