Indiana State Representative Dale DeVon is running for re-election, seeking his seventh term.
The Granger Republican could have a familiar opponent in the fall.
DeVon, a home builder, has held the seat since 2012. In 2022 he beat Democrat Heidi Beidinger 57 to 43 percent, a margin that’s generally not considered very close in politics.
But Beidinger filed her candidacy again for the seat on Monday. She says sometimes candidates, like former U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly, lose their first two or three elections
Beidinger is director of Notre Dame’s Master of Science in Global Health program. She served on the St. Joseph County Board of Health from 2016 until last year when she was replaced by an appointee from the all-Republican county commissioners.
"Folks that I speak to, at the door and on the phones, are telling me that they are tired of their families and children being left behind," Beidinger says. "And that, state legislators, honestly, it's the MAGA Republicans, who are choosing business over families, education, health, children, etcetera etcetera."
DeVon says he’s spent the past 20 years ministering to jail inmates and mentoring disadvantaged children, including volunteering at The Crossing, an independent alternative school.
"That's my main purpose, is to strengthen families and to give children a better chance at life to succeed," DeVon says. "If it takes a school voucher or ... my dream is to get rid of DCS, right? Not because we won't fund it but because there won't be a need for it. But how do we legislate (against) broken families? How do we stop kids from having kids? So I'm looking for that silver bullet."
