One county, two parties

Democrats flip several countywide seats, Sheridan Community Schools referendum fails

Tuesday made one thing clear: anything can happen on Election Night.

Voters have said both that school referendums are not a sure thing and that Democrats are here to stay in Hamilton County.

Four of the five local school referendums passed: Carmel, Hamilton Southeastern, Noblesville, and Westfield. Hamilton Heights did not request a referendum, and only Sheridan’s referendum was not approved by voters.

Across the county line, both Tipton Community School Corporation and Tri-Central Community Schools referendums failed in Tipton County.

Across Hamilton County, Democrats flipped 15 local seats this election, in addition to two Indiana House races that only pull from Hamilton County voters. Other flips are likely to be confirmed as final results are released from the rest of the state in the coming days.

In January 2027, Charles Hollowell will be the new Hamilton County Sheriff, Alexandra Wilson will be the new Clerk of Courts, and the new Superior Court 8 will seat Judge Emily Angel Shaw.

The upsets didn’t stop there.

Three of the four Republican incumbent County Councilmembers lost their seats, with only Mark Hall maintaining his elected position.

Commissioner Christine Altman will remain in office after a narrow 323-vote victory over challenger Ti’Gre McNear.

Democrats swept three township boards: Clay, Delaware, and Fall Creek. In addition, Fall Creek Township Trustee Doug Allman lost his re-election bid to Democrat Stephanie Hunt.

Democrat victories were not limited to Hamilton County, or even to Indiana.

Regarding Indiana House races, State Rep. Alaina Shonkwiler won re-election, but Speaker Todd Huston and State Rep. Danny Lopez lost to their Democratic challengers. As of press time, it appears that Hamilton County will now be represented by only one Republican in the Indiana House of Representatives.

Some state races where districts include other counties – Senate District 21, Senate District 29, Senate District 31, House District 32, and House District 88 – did not have final unofficial results reported in time for this edition. The Reporter will publish those results in a future edition when they become available.

In the race for Congress, final results were not available from the Secretary of State’s office at press time, but several news outlets called it for Democrat J.D. Ford over incumbent Republican Victoria Spartz. The latest results, according to the Associated Press, were 51.7 percent for Ford and 48.3 percent for Spartz, with 99 percent of votes tallied.

Click here to read the Nov. 4 edition, which contains the 2026 General Election results.