When redistricting happens, the following election is always interesting.  The new boundary lines often, but  not always, can change the political dynamics.  Indiana lawmakers enacted new district lines in the 2022 regular session.

One 2022 election that is shaping-up as one to watch is Indiana Senate District 31.  Republican Kyle Walker was selected in a party caucus to serve the remainder of Jim Merritt’s Senate term and is seeking election to a full term.  Democrat Jocelyn Vare is an at-large Fishers City Council member elected in 2019.  Both will be squaring-off in the November general election.

District 31 takes-in all of Fishers, plus parts of Noblesville and Lawrence Township in Marion County.

I will point out a couple of recent developments to note.

First, the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety passed a resolution August 23rd allowing Fishers Police and other law enforcement agencies to enforce “No Hunting” rules in the Geist Reservoir area.  City Attorney Chris Greisl credited Senator Walker with bringing the parties together, making that agreement with Citizens Energy a reality.

Ms. Vare shared a Change Research poll that shows the two Senate candidates in a statistical tie.  The Poll shows Vare with 41%, Walker 39% and 19% undecided.  The biggest take-aways from the poll are the high number of undecided respondents (19%) and the margin of error (4.7%).  This poll shows no clear front-runner at this stage.  The pool of respondents consists of 552 likely voters.  The Web site fivethirtyeight.com gives Change Research a B- grade as a polling organization.

Campaigns are just getting underway for the general election set for Tuesday, November 8.  Expect to see a lot in the news about Indiana Senate District 31 between now and then.