Indiana Politics & News
Indiana news from The Daily Signal, tracking state legislation, economic development, conservative leadership, and the Hoosier State’s role in Midwest political and policy debates.
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- News
What Just Happened in Indiana Could Reshape How Schools Teach—and Test—Students
With two major victories in a single week, Indiana conservatives are proving that the heartland is setting the pace for 2026. In a sweeping session dominated by conservative priorities, the Republican-controlled Indiana Legislature has passed legislation, strongly backed by Heritage Action, aimed at reshaping education policy, elections, and civic instruction. These bills include a ban…Katherine Matt -
- Opinion
Indiana Set to Deliver Huge Transformation for Teaching Profession
Indiana lawmakers are on the verge of reshaping the teaching profession to the benefit of teachers and students and could set an example for the rest of the country. State policymakers are considering a proposal that would exempt some teaching candidates from the Praxis test (a standardized test commonly used by educators to evaluate potential…Jonathan Butcher -
- News
EXCLUSIVE: Red-State AG Demands Governor Designate CAIR a Terrorist Group
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is calling on Gov. Mike Braun to join other Republican governors in branding the Council on American-Islamic Relations a terrorist organization. “It’s high time that Indiana declare CAIR a foreign terrorist organization,” Rokita told The Daily Signal in an interview Thursday. “I completely agree and I…Tyler O’Neil -
- News
‘The Cavalry Is Coming’: After Redistricting Failure, Conservatives Prepare for War in Indiana
Conservative activists are preparing for the Indiana primaries following Thursday’s failed redistricting vote. In the Indiana Senate, 21 Republican state senators joined 10 Democrats in voting against a congressional map that would have potentially given the GOP two more seats in Congress. The GOP state lawmakers’ vote has supercharged conservative activists who spoke to The…Jacob Adams -
- News
Most Indiana Likely GOP Primary Voters Support Redistricting in Swing Districts: Survey
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: A large majority of likely Republican primary voters in four Indiana Senate districts support the Hoosier State’s redistricting effort, even though the senators representing them reportedly plan to oppose it, a new survey shows. Heritage Action surveyed 1321 likely Republican primary voters in the four districts represented by Sens. Ed…Tyler O’Neil -
- News
Indiana Lawmaker Weighs in on Redistricting Bill
The Indiana Senate will reconvene Thursday to discuss a redistricting bill that could help keep Republicans in control of the U.S. House of Representatives following the 2026 midterm elections. The legislation, which could give Republicans two more House seats from the Hoosier State, has faced a surprising amount of opposition from some Republican lawmakers, even…Jacob Adams -
- News
Indiana Republicans Who Oppose Redistricting May Be in for a Nasty Surprise
Republicans in the Indiana Senate may face an ugly surprise next year, should they dare oppose the new U.S. congressional map up for debate in the Hoosier State’s upper chamber this week. A new Super PAC, Fair Maps Indiana Action, has announced its intention to spend seven figures ahead of the 2026 primaries—both to support…Tyler O’Neil -
From Trailer Park to US Senate: Republican Jim Banks Wins Indiana Seat
Republican Rep. Jim Banks won the open Indiana Senate seat, beating Democrat Valerie McCray, a clinical psychologist, according to Fox News and The Associated Press. “Only in America can a kid like me, who grew up in a trailer park in Columbia City and was the first in my family to go to college, go…Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell -
Clinton-Appointed Federal Judge Orders Taxpayer-Funded Transgender Surgery for Indiana Inmate
A federal judge ruled that the Indiana Department of Corrections must pay for an incarcerated baby murderer to turn his penis into an imitation-vagina, on the pretext that the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the one prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment, requires it. In 2001, 19-year-old Jonathan C. Richardson strangled his 11-month-old stepdaughter while her mother,…Joshua Arnold -
Indiana Prosecutor Laments That Self-Defense Laws Exist, Protect Defensive Gun Users
Apparently, some Indianapolis public officials have forgotten how their own self-defense laws work and why they exist in the first place. In an interview that’s equal parts amusing and alarming, Indiana’s Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears recently lamented an increase in self-defense shootings in Indianapolis. Mears complained to reporters that shootings involving self-defense claims are…Amy Swearer -
EXCLUSIVE: Indiana AG Launches Portal for Parents to Monitor Public Schools’ Discriminatory Policies, Content
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced, in an exclusive interview Monday with The Daily Signal, the launch of a public portal online for parents in the state’s public schools to submit and monitor content of concern to them. “This is a tool to empower parents in their dealings with their own school system so they…Tony Kinnett -
Indiana Supreme Court Rules Abortion Ban Is Constitutional
The Indiana Supreme Court issued a decision Friday that said the state’s abortion ban was constitutional in a 4-1 ruling, according to the text. Senate Bill 1 was signed into law in 2022 and prohibited abortion with limited exceptions in the case of preventing “serious health risk of the pregnant woman or to save the pregnant…Kate Anderson -
Media Falsely Accuses Indiana Library of ‘Book Banning’
The board of a library system in an Indiana county posted new guidelines in December for books in the library’s “teen” section. Books, graphic novels, and comics found to contain overtly sexual content or racial slurs would be moved one room over, to the adult section. As a result of this policy and growing concerns…Tony Kinnett -
Indiana Public School Officials Admit Lying to Parents About Critical Race Theory
When I received an email from Nathalie Henderson, chief schools officer of Indianapolis Public Schools, demanding that I and other administrators lie to our parents and teachers about teaching critical race theory, I was amazed at the boldness in her request that I be dishonest. At the time, I was the science coordinator for Indianapolis…Tony Kinnett -
BREAKING: Indiana Student Counselor Fired for Condemning School District’s Hidden Transgender Policy
PENDLETON, Ind.—An Indiana school district fired a student counselor Thursday night for confirming and condemning the existence of a secret transgender policy that keeps parents in the dark about their children’s “gender transitions.” Kathy McCord worked as a counselor at Pendleton Heights High School for 25 years before the school board voted unanimously to terminate…Tony Kinnett -
Indiana Democrats Can’t Read 2-Page Bill Banning Sexual Content in Grades K-3
You’ll never experience such a profound mixture of astonishment and disappointment until you observe hundreds of protesters converge on a statehouse to vehemently protest legislation they haven’t read. Indiana state lawmakers on Monday advanced a two-page bill that, similar to a new Florida law, would ban schools from incorporating lessons or themes with sexual content…Tony Kinnett -
EXCLUSIVE: Indiana Lawmakers Fight Back Against Schools’ Hidden Transgender Policies
At least four school districts in Indiana have flooded their communities with controversy in the past year by pushing radical transgender agendas. Now, state lawmakers are fighting back to clearly outline and protect parental rights. Indiana state Rep. Jake Teshka and state Sen. Jeff Raatz, both Republicans, have introduced two bills that would forbid any…Tony Kinnett -
Indiana Teacher ‘No Longer Employed’ After Sexually Charged Messages Unearthed
Following an exposé from The Daily Signal about sexually charged text messages sent to a high school student, Indiana teacher Ben Yoder is no longer employed by Hamilton Southeastern Intermediate School, according to the Hamilton Southeastern Schools district. Yoder, a 37-year-old teacher and LGBTQ+ advocate, taught at the school in Fishers, Indiana, for 11 years…Tony Kinnett -
Screenshot Shows Sexually Charged Messages From Indiana Teacher to Current Student
A middle school orchestra teacher at Hamilton Southeastern Intermediate School in Fishers, Indiana, appears to have sent sexually suggestive private Instagram messages last summer to a student currently at Hamilton Southeastern High School. A concerned parent sent a screenshot that he claims shows an Instagram private message conversation between a Hamilton Southeastern Schools student and…Tony Kinnett -
Indiana School Places Counselor Who Leaked Secret Transgender Policy on Leave
Following the exposure of a hidden “Gender Support Plan” and policy to conceal student transgender procedures from parents, the whistleblower, counselor Kathy McCord, has been placed on immediate and indefinite leave, and could be facing termination. McCord, a counselor at Pendleton Heights High School in the South Madison Community School Corporation in Indiana, confirmed documents…Tony Kinnett