This year, voters will elect the first new District 72 state representative for the first time in nearly two decades.
Longtime Republican state Rep. Ed Clere, who has held the seat since 2008, is not seeking reelection. He's focusing instead on a 2027 bid for mayor of New Albany, as an independent.
Democrat Michele Henry and Republican Darrell Neeley are hoping to fill the role. Both recognize Hoosiers' financial challenges, and they agree the state has a role in regulating data centers. Neither has held public office, though Neeley ran unsuccessfully for New Albany City Council in 2023.
Meet the candidates
Henry is a civil rights and worker's rights attorney. She said she didn't plan to run, and hadn't previously considered running for office. But she wants to see changes.
"I think that our legislature truly has just forgotten why it exists, and that is to improve the quality of life in our state," Henry said. "And we haven't been doing that for 20 years now, and it is time to elect people who want to do that."
She said Indiana ranks poorly in some areas, such as public education.
"We should be at the top of those lists," she said. "This is a great state, and District 72 is a fantastic community."
Neeley is an associate pastor in New Albany and served more than three decades in the U.S. Navy. He said he wasn't seeking the spot but that a lot of people reached out to him when it opened up. He said he sees it as a way to continue his track record of serving people.
"This was another aspect in helping people, and being there to support those that think they don't have a voice," Neeley said. When people asked him about running, "I finally sat down, prayed about it, thought about it, and so here we are."
Big goals
Both candidates say they've heard from residents about how much they're struggling to make ends meet, and Henry said focusing on affordability would be a priority.
"We know that the rate of foreclosure is at…the highest in Indiana of all the 50 states, and that is largely because people are struggling to afford housing," she said, adding that the prices of gas, groceries and utilities are also up.
One way to help alleviate this, she said, is by eliminating sales tax on utilities and necessary household items, including hygiene products.
She also wants to see the state minimum wage raised from its current $7.25 to at least $15.
"There's nobody in the United States who could live on $7.25 an hour in any community, and certainly not in Indiana and not in District 72," she said.
She also said leaders should be responsible when bringing in new companies.
"If we are going to provide incentives for companies to come to Indiana and bring jobs, we need to make sure that those jobs are quality jobs: that they offer a a salary, an hourly rate, and benefits that allow people to buy a home, to raise a family if that's what they choose to do, to not have to have a second job," Henry said.
Neeley said he wants to continue the state's economic growth through fiscal responsibility. During his Navy career, he managed $300 million budgets, he said.
"I knew how to budget, knew how to use taxpayers' money," Neeley said. "Because it's not the government's, it wasn't the Navy's. It's the people's money."
He said he also thinks most people just want to make sure their tax money is spent wisely.
He noted that 2027 is a biannual budget year for Indiana, which is a "prime opportunity to address the cost of living."
He said legislators need to increase grants and remove barriers for child care, so working families can continue to work. He wants state and local leaders to address what he calls burdensome restrictions on housing, and to see the state's Residential Housing Infrastructure Assistance Program continue.
He said he supports property tax reform, especially when it "addresses our problematic assessment system" and targets relief for seniors and people with disabilities.
Getting things done
Henry said she hopes Republicans won't be in the supermajority at the statehouse after the election, which she thinks could make it easier for Democrats to be more effective, rather than continuing what she calls Republicans' "pro-corporation legislative activity."
"I think there is a very real chance that the Democrats do get out of the superminority this year," she said. "And once that happens, we will obviously have a lot more play at the table. We'll be able to implement proposals… We'll be able to take action that actually helps people in our communities."
She said even if the partisan gap doesn't change, she hopes the parties can work together "to actually implement real relief and pro-Hoosier legislation."
Neeley said it's crucial to work together, and that it's not beneficial to reject good ideas based on party labels.
"These games have to stop," he said, adding that whether constituents support him or not, "you still have a voice in this district and at the statehouse too. We have to work together, or we're not going to get anywhere."
Both candidates said they would like to continue in the spirit Clere served with for so long.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ed," Henry said. "He's a moderate person who actually does listen to his constituents."
That's something she'd like to continue. She also wants to make sure people in the district are represented at the state level.
"Southern Indiana folks feel a lot of the time like they aren't heard, that Indianapolis doesn't remember that we are part of the state and not part of, you know, Louisville," she said. "And so I think it's important that we listen to what the needs are in our community and bring those to the statehouse and then work on solutions that work for our community."
Neeley noted Clere's focus on health care and legislation for people with disabilities, which he'd like to carry on.
"I plan on picking his brain," Neeley said. He said by bringing Clere's knowledge and his own experience with the Navy, volunteering and his knowledge of the community to the Legislature, "I think District 72 will be well taken care of."
Regulating data centers
Data centers, and concerns around them, became a big focus for many Southern Indiana residents this year. Local lawmakers took steps this summer toward addressing zoning laws around them, in some cases pausing any new potential proposals.
Henry said while she believes local government should largely lead their own communities, state lawmakers have a responsibility to address data centers.
"We do not know enough about the health and environmental impacts of data centers," she said. "And I think it is important on the state level to pass legislation that says that data center operators are going to pay their own way."
She said state lawmakers need to look at legislation to protect local communities when a data center comes in, and that leaders should "fully understand the health and environmental effects" before building new data centers.
Neeley said he supports more regulation on data centers, and that ratepayers should be protected from any increased costs.
He said officials should provide advance notice so residents can attend meetings and hearings about data centers so they can "plan to attend and make their thoughts and concerns known."
Neeley said he agrees with New Albany's decision this year to implement a data center moratorium as leaders look at impacts.
"Let's take some time," he said. "Let's hold off. Let's learn. Let's see what's going on, and then move from there."
The Indiana Statehouse after a failed redistricting attempt
In December, Indiana lawmakers voted down a measure that would have redrawn the state's Congressional districts ahead of schedule, after a push from President Donald Trump. That passed the Indiana House but failed in the Senate, and some Republicans who voted against it lost their reelection bids to primary challengers backed by Trump.
LPM News asked the candidates what they think that could mean for the culture of the statehouse in the coming session.
Henry said she hopes they can work together but she's concerned that lawmakers could come in "with an unwillingness to actually be thoughtful about the work we are doing instead of just standing in lockstep with the Republican Party."
Neeley said he is opposed to mid-cycle redistricting in general, and that "I would like to see Congress pass legislation to fix the Census process and to end this mid-cycle redistricting across all 50 states."
He said, from attending meetings and knocking on doors, he thinks many residents are opposed, too.
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
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