Democrats break GOP supermajority in Indiana state House, elect state's first openly gay congressperson

Democrats won big in Indiana Tuesday night, breaking a 14-year Republican supermajority in the state House of Representatives, electing the state's first openly gay U.S. representative, and electing a Democratic attorney general for the first time in 14 years.

Republican House Speaker Todd Huston conceded his race for reelection Wednesday morning. He lost to Democrat Lauren Cole.

Cole won 51.5% of the vote for the race in the 37th District in Hamilton County north of Indianapolis, compared with 48.4% for Huston.

In the 24th District north of Indianapolis, Republican incumbent state Rep. Hunter Smith, a former NFL football player, lost to Democrat Racheal Bleicher. In the 25th District just to the west, incumbent Republican state Rep. Becky Cash lost to Democrat Tiffany Stoner in a rematch.

In the 40th District west of Indianapolis, Democrat William Colteryahn beat Republican incumbent state Rep. Greg Steuerwald. In the 62nd District in south central Indiana, Democrat Amy Huffman Oliver beat incumbent Republican state Rep. Dave Hall. In the 84th District, which includes part of Fort Wayne, Democrat Misti Meehan beat Republican incumbent state Rep. Bob Morris.

In the 39th District near Indianapolis, incumbent Republican state Rep. Daniel Lopez was down to Democrat Lindsay Gramlich. In the 88th District in central Indiana, Democrat Stephanie Jo Yocum was ahead of incumbent Republican state Rep. Chris Jeter.

In the 90th District south of Indianapolis, Republican incumbent state Rep. Andrew Ireland was down to Democrat David Lawrence Boyd. In the 91st nearby, Democrat Jarren Hurt was ahead of Republican incumbent state Rep. Robert Behning. In the 93rd, which includes parts of Indianapolis, Republican incumbent state Rep. Julie McGuire was behind Democrat Eva Rosberg.

Some other races were too close to call Wednesday morning.

Indiana voters told CBS News Chicago the economy was among the factors motivating their decisions on Election Day.

"Gas prices, as far as the price of food, things like that, so health care is real big for us as well," Eric Jackson said.

Mike Wolf, a political expert with the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue University Fort Wayne, said, while Republicans maintain control of state government, losing the supermajority in the Indiana House and Speaker Todd Huston losing his re-election bid will change the dynamics of law making in Indianapolis.

"This is going to be a huge flip, both in the seniority of a lot of these people, and again, the leadership. So, who's going to step up?" Wolf said. "There's going to have to be some bargaining done in ways that haven't been done in over 20 years."

Lake County played a role in that change by flipping two seats in the state legislature from Republicans to Democrats.

In Indiana House District 19, Democratic challenger Nicholas Neal defeated Republican incumbent Juli Olthoff, and in Indiana Senate District 1, Democratic challenger Scott Houldieson defeated Republican incumbent Ed Soliday.

"Locally, what we had are a lot of new candidates who were given opportunities," said Lake County Democratic Party chair Mike Repay.

Repay credited Tuesday's victories to reduce GOP power in Indiana to the nationwide blue wave, candidate quality, and messaging.

"They outspent us all over the place, the Republican Party, but because we had competitive races throughout Lake County, they weren't able to, you know, focus all their attention on Scott's race or on Nick Neal's race," he said.

Repay said many of the newly elected Democrats in Indiana participated in caucus meetings on Wednesday in Indianapolis, beginning their efforts in a new era of Indiana politics.

Meanwhile, Democrats also gained a seat in the Indiana congressional delegation. J.D. Ford won the race for the 5th Congressional District seat, which is located north of Indianapolis and includes Muncie, Marion, Anderson, and Kokomo. Ford defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz, winning a district that had been in Republican hands for more than 30 years.

Ford won 51.7% of the vote, Spartz 48.3%.

The last Democrat elected from that district was Jim Jontz in 1990, but this year's race became increasingly competitive in the weeks leading up to the election. 

Ford, now a state senator, will be the first openly gay member of Congress from Indiana.

Democrats now hold three of Indiana's nine seats in Congress, including the 1st District in northwest Indiana, bordering Chicago, and the 7th District, centered on Indianapolis.

The two sitting Democrats in Congress in Indiana won new terms with no trouble. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-Indiana) easily won reelection in the 1st District, while incumbent Rep. André Carson (D-Indiana), whose district includes most of Indianapolis, also won handily in the 7th District.

Mrvan got more than 60% of the vote in his Northwest Indiana district, and had the support of labor unions and steelworkers who make up the backbone of the economy in that section of the state.

Speaking to CBS News Chicago on Wednesday morning, Mrvan said in terms of priorities for his next term, lowering costs is top-of-mind — as constituents have reminded him "from the union halls to the grocery stores to people's porches."

"We have to hold the [Trump] administration accountable so we have an end to the war in Iran, so we can bring back down fuel costs. We must be able to do everything we can in Northwest Indiana to be able to lower our utility costs. And so first and foremost, we want to do that," Mrvan said. "And then nationally, we have to be able to do everything we can to bring unity to our country, end the chaos, and bring certainty to not only government agencies with budgets — I'm on the Appropriations Committee — but making sure we have a well-rounded approach towards government."

On the statewide level, Democrat Beau Bayh defeated Republican Max Engling in the race for Indiana Secretary of State. Bayh will become the first Democrat to win statewide in Indiana since 2012, when Joe Donnelly was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Bayh won 51.7% of the vote, while Engling won 42.7%.

Incumbent Diego Morales, a Republican, lost his bid for renomination at the state party convention in June.

"I think we worked extremely hard," Mrvan said of Bayh, whose father, Evan Bayh, served in the same office and later also as Indiana governor and as a U.S. Senator. "His father has a very great reputation, and he made a lot of connections and was successful."

Mrvan outlined what he hopes will be the path forward.

"Again, I believe that the people from Indiana want to make sure that we have good government that ends the chaos, listens to the people, and makes sure that we do everything we can to lower costs, and begin to have a little peace and love going on in our world," Mrvan said.

Cindy Klidaras, owner of Great Lakes Cafe in Gary, said she thinks it was time for some changes in leadership in Indiana.

"I have been here for 32 years, and I've seen changes in our policies that affect the air, they affect our quality of life around us, that people need to have a flip in the switch around here. So, if it's blue it's blue, you know, it's just the way people are speaking," she said.