Christopher Rector (Indiana)

Christopher Rector

Democratic Party

Candidate, U.S. House Indiana District 8

Elections and appointments

Next election

November 3, 2026

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army

Years of service

1983 - 2008

Personal

Birthplace

Knoxville, Tenn.

Profession

Author

Contact

Campaign website

Christopher Rector (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Indiana's 8th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.^[source]

Rector completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Christopher Rector was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. He served in the U.S. Army from 1983 to 2008. He attended Walter's State Community College. His career experience includes working as an author and deputy sheriff.

Elections

2026

See also: Indiana's 8th Congressional District election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Indiana District 8

Incumbent Mark Messmer, Mary Allen, Christopher Rector, Daniel George, and James Burke are running in the general election for U.S. House Indiana District 8 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Mark Messmer (R)
	Submit photo	Mary Allen (D)
		Christopher Rector (D)
	Submit photo	Daniel George (R)
	Submit photo	James Burke (Independent)

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Endorsements

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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Christopher Rector completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rector's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm from Tennessee. After graduating High School. I joined the Army and served for three years in West Germany; I received an Honorable Discharge. I then went to the State of Tennessee Law Enforcement Academy and earned my P.O.S.T certification. As a Deputy Sheriff, I went undercover in a large white supremacist group that was abusing and trafficking young females and also targeted violence on the LGBTQIA community. We were able to get over a hundred felony convictions from this investigation. I again joined the Army after this for another twenty-one years. I served as a Fire Resources Coordinator for the Tennessee Division of Forestry after retiring from the Army. I'm a published Author and have written three books. I'm a disabled veteran and volunteer through a couple of groups helping other disabled veterans.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Equality for ALL

  I am tired of seeing politicians using small groups of people as a punching bag – be it race, or gender identity, or sexual orientation.

  Sadly, we have even Democrats trying to pander to what they think Trump voters want by peddling soft bigotry. (Doesn’t work, never has.)

  I will support passing, at last, federal LGBTQ

  anti-discrimination legislation.
• Defend Medicare and Medicaid These programs, while not enough, are lifelines for millions of Americans, allowing them to live with a degree of dignity. And yet there are many in Washington, too many, who dream of dismantling them for private gain for a very few. I will oppose ANY cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, and work to pass improved Medicare for ALL.
• Stop the Mass Deportation Machine; Pass Real Immigration Reform Our government is kidnapping people off the streets and imprisoning them in hellish conditions. This is unconscionable. It is long past time for serious immigration reform. Unfortunately, many multi-national corporations have no interest in this. They want illegal workers with no rights who they can pay slave wages and abuse at will. I will support a path to citizenship and an end to the mass deportation machine. We need strong border security and a path to citizenship. We cannot do one without the other.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Why can't we have universal healthcare? Why can't we take care of our veterans when

they come home? Why are we funding endless wars and bombing children? We fought
three different wars since the last time we raised the minimum wage.

I don't pretend that I know all the answers, but I believe we can build a system that
represents all the people regardless of our race, age, color, and gender. We are
supposed to fight for the things we love, and this is our home. I will fight tirelessly for

it and you. It's Hoosiers first and Indiana always.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

To make sure that every citizen's voice is heard regardless of race, sex, gender or sexual orientation. Everyone will have a seat at the table.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked in the cafeteria at Children's Hospital in Knoxville, TN as a dishwasher and serving food. I worked there for three years before joining the Army.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I first read this book after retiring from the army and it was spot on in a lot of places and brought back good and not so good reflections.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Underdog

What legislation would you enact related to election administration in the United States?

We have to work to put a stop to all the mid cycle redistricting and we all as citizens need to have a voice in redistricting. I would work to have any redistricting put on a ballot for the people of Indiana to vote on it. Your vote is your voice.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Christopher Rector campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Indiana District 8	Candidacy Declared general	$0	N/A**
Grand total			$0	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

See also

2026 Elections

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Government

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Newsletters

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External links

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Candidate

U.S. House Indiana District 8

Website

Footnotes

[show]

Indiana's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Jim Banks (R)

Todd Young (R)

Representatives

District 1

Frank Mrvan (D)

District 2

Rudy Yakym (R)

District 3

Marlin Stutzman (R)

District 4

Jim Baird (R)

District 5

Victoria Spartz (R)

District 6

Jefferson Shreve (R)

District 7

André Carson (D)

District 8

Mark Messmer (R)

District 9

Erin Houchin (R)

Republican Party (9)

Democratic Party (2)