Indiana's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (May 7 Republican primary)

2026 → ← 2022
Indiana's 1st Congressional District
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: February 9, 2024
Primary: May 7, 2024 General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Voting in Indiana
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Likely Democratic DDHQ and The Hill: Likely Democratic Inside Elections: Likely Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
Indiana's 1st Congressional District U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th Indiana elections, 2024 U.S. Congress elections, 2024 U.S. Senate elections, 2024 U.S. House elections, 2024 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

A Republican Party primary took place on May 7, 2024, in Indiana's 1st Congressional District to determine which Republican candidate would run in the district's general election on November 5, 2024.

Randell Niemeyer advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Indiana District 1.

All 435 seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans had a 220 to 212 majority with three vacancies. As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Democratic candidate won 52.8%-47.2%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 53.4%-45.0%.

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
February 9, 2024	May 7, 2024	November 5, 2024

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Indiana law requires a closed primary, where a voter must be affiliated with a party to vote in that party's primary. This includes if they voted for a majority of that party’s candidates in the last general election or plan to in the upcoming election. However, it is possible for any voter to vote in any party's primary so long as they meet this criteria.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Indiana's 1st Congressional District Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:

• Indiana's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (May 7 Democratic primary)
• Indiana's 1st Congressional District election, 2024

Candidates and election results

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Indiana District 1

Randell Niemeyer defeated Mark Leyva and David Ben Ruiz in the Republican primary for U.S. House Indiana District 1 on May 7, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Randell Niemeyer	60.8	18,449
		Mark Leyva	24.8	7,509
		David Ben Ruiz	14.4	4,367

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 30,325
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Martin Lucas (R)

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Mark Leyva

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I am a Constitutional Conservative Republican that has been preparing more than half my life to represent Indiana's 1st District in Washington. I have been running in the past to build up name recognition, I need to raise money to be a much more viable candidate and hope to do it this time. I am the Republican's highest vote getter in IN district 1 with 132,000 votes in 2020 election. It is time to get a Constitutionalist Conservative in Washington to help save our Country, protecting our borders, Veterans and putting America First."

---

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

---

PROTECT OUR BORDERS

---

VOTER INTEGRITY

---

OIL INDEPENDENCE

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Indiana District 1 in 2024.

Randell Niemeyer

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "Born in Lowell and raised in Cedar Lake, Randy Niemeyer’s spent his entire life here in Northwest Indiana. Randy’s great-grandfather started hauling milk back in 1916, to try and earn a little extra money from his dairy farm. This endeavor grew and grew, and now Randy and his brother Rich are the fourth generation of his family to haul milk as the owners of Niemeyer Milk Transfer, Inc. A graduate of Hanover Central High School, of which his father was a member of the first graduating class, his daughter a member of the class of 2021, his son a member of the class of 2023, he saw the importance of public service through his grandfather, who served on the first Board for the Hanover Community Schools and his grandmother who spent thirty-five years working in their cafeterias. While playing varsity basketball and baseball, Randy also found time to be in the choir, the thespian society, and student government while tackling his schoolwork. After graduating, Randy attended Indiana State University, while getting his CDL at the age of 18 and going to work for the family business. Randy learned quickly that trucking isn’t easy work, but it’s part of the backbone of our society. To date, Randy has logged over 3 million miles behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler in his 28 years of trucking. We’ve been able to trust Randy to bring balanced and common-sense leadership to our community. With his blue-collar roots, Randy is ready to go to Washington and fight for the working people of IN-01."

---

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

---

---

---

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Indiana District 1 in 2024.

David Ben Ruiz

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I am married with five beautiful children who are home schooled and a small business owner operating out of NWI who knows the economic effects and hardships brought on by the current Biden Administrations policies that are affecting everyday American families with the highest inflation in recent history. I have been a lifelong conservative republican voter and someone who leads by example and prides myself in creating opportunities for others while always going above and beyond my own needs I strive to help as many folks in bad situations to be the voice of reason, patience and strength by being very forward. I am someone who is appalled by the failures of those currently in positions of power and have failed to keep their promises to the people of Northwest Indiana and the entire country. I am a proud supporter of President Trump and his successful policies and promises that helped Make America Great Again that benefited every American with economic stability and strength to thrive, by reigning in foreign trade and making Europe pay their fair share for security. As your candidate for Congress I promise to turn things around and make Hoosier lives better again by tackling infrastructure and employment growth while protecting our children's future."

---

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

---

As I run for U.S. Congress in NWI Indiana, I will hold RINOs and Democrats alike accountable. I will fight for and to protect and defend American First policies for "We the People" by focusing on protecting our own border and contiued election integrity. I will never change my unwavering support for Presdient Trump and MAGA Republicans.

---

Unlike other candidates running under the party platform my goal is to put the people of Northwest Indiana and American's across this nation before party and politics. The people of Northwest Indiana deserve the well overdue needed change and deserve to be heard by a leaders that won't stray, back down and betray the people' trust in order to hold onto to power, but instead to defend, fund and support growth right here at home in NWI Indiana.

---

As an open outsider that can comes in as a MAGA Republican running my agenda is simple to protecting Hoosier American interests, such economic revitalization in the form of and recovery while protecting our most valuable assets...Our Children from the failures of both sides of the political spectrum being currently run by RINOs, The Establishment and the repeated failures of the Democratic Party.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Indiana District 1 in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Indiana

Election information in Indiana: May 7, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

• In-person: April 8, 2024
• By mail: Received by April 8, 2024
• Online: April 8, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

No

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

• In-person: April 25, 2024
• By mail: Received by April 25, 2024
• Online: April 25, 2024

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

• In-person: May 7, 2024
• By mail: Received by May 7, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

N/A

What were the early voting start and end dates?

April 9, 2024 to May 6, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

6:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. (CST)

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Mark Leyva	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Randell Niemeyer	Republican Party	$1,107,288	$1,081,044	$26,244	As of December 31, 2024
David Ben Ruiz	Republican Party	$2,750	$3,260	$-831	As of March 31, 2024
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

• District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
• Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
• Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
• State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

• District map
• Competitiveness
• Presidential elections
• State party control

Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Indiana.

Indiana U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
2024	9	9	3	63	18	6	8	77.8%	4	66.7%
2022	9	9	1	49	18	8	4	66.7%	3	37.5%
2020	9	9	2	78	18	9	6	83.3%	4	57.1%
2018	9	9	2	71	18	8	7	83.3%	4	57.1%
2016	9	9	2	51	18	8	8	88.9%	7	100.0%
2014	9	9	0	49	18	7	6	72.2%	6	66.7%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Indiana in 2024. Information below was calculated on March 19, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Sixty-three candidates ran for Indiana’s nine U.S. House districts, including 18 Democrats and 45 Republicans. That’s seven candidates per district, higher than the 5.6 candidates that ran in 2022, but lower than the 8.7 candidates who ran in 2020.

Three districts—the 3rd, the 6th, and the 8th—were open, meaning no incumbents ran. That’s the most open districts in an election cycle this decade.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-3rd) did not run for re-election in order to run for the U.S. Senate, while Reps. Greg Pence (R-6th) and Larry Bucshon (R-8th) retired from public office.

Twelve candidates—four Democrats and eight Republicans—ran for the open 8th Congressional District, the most candidates to run for a seat in 2024.

Fourteen primaries—six Democratic and eight Republican—were contested in 2024. Twelve primaries were contested in 2022, 15 primaries were contested in 2020, and 15 were in 2018.

Four incumbents—one Democrat and three Republicans—faced primary challengers in 2024. That's higher than in 2022, when three incumbents faced challengers, but the same as in 2020 and 2018.

Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all eight districts, meaning no seats were guaranteed to either party.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+3. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 3 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Indiana's 1st the 190th most Democratic district nationally.

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Indiana's 1st based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
53.4%	45.0%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district. The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline	Republican Baseline	Difference
55.2	42.8	D+12.3

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Indiana, 2020

Indiana presidential election results (1900-2020)

• 5 Democratic wins
• 26 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	R	R	R

See also: Party control of Indiana state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Indiana's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Indiana
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	2	2
Republican	2	7	9
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	9	11

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Indiana's top four state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Indiana, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Eric Holcomb
Lieutenant Governor	Suzanne Crouch
Secretary of State	Diego Morales
Attorney General	Todd Rokita

State legislature

Indiana State Senate

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	10
	Republican Party	40
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		50

Indiana House of Representatives

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	30
	Republican Party	70
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		100

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Indiana Party Control: 1992-2024
No Democratic trifectas  •  Sixteen years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Indiana in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Indiana, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Indiana	U.S. House	Ballot-qualified party	N/A (only declaration of candidacy required)	N/A	2/6/2024	Source
Indiana	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	2% of total votes cast for the secretary of state in the district in the last election	N/A	7/1/2024	Source

See also

• Indiana's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (May 7 Democratic primary)
• Indiana's 1st Congressional District election, 2024
• United States House elections in Indiana, 2024 (May 7 Democratic primaries)
• United States House elections in Indiana, 2024 (May 7 Republican primaries)
• United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2024
• United States House Republican Party primaries, 2024
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2024
• U.S. House battlegrounds, 2024

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic

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)

Ballotpedia

About

Overview • What people are saying • Support Ballotpedia • Contact • Contribute • Job opportunities

---

Executive: Leslie Graves, Founder and CEO • Gwen Beattie, Chief Operating Officer

Communications: Alison Graves, Director of Communications • Carley Allensworth • Abigail Campbell • Frank Festa • Sarah Groat • Nathaniel Harwood • Dillon Redmond
External Relations: Geoff Pallay, Director of External Relations • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Ashley Fleming • Thomas Mardik • Hannah Nelson
Operations: Meghann Olshefski, Director of Operations • Amanda Herbert • Mandy Morris • Caroline Presnell • Kelly Rindfleisch
Tech: Matt Latourelle, Director of Technology Operations • Ryan Burch • Kirsten Corrao • Beth Dellea • Travis Eden • Tate Kamish • Margaret Kearney • Eric Lotto • Joseph Sanchez • Mary Susmitha

Contributors: Scott Rasmussen

---

Editorial Content

Josh Altic, Director of Content • Daniel Anderson, Associate Director of Elections & Data • Cory Eucalitto, Associate Director of Features • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor of Ballot Measures • Mandy McConnell, Managing Editor of News • Doug Kronaizl, Managing Editor of Local Expansion • Abbey Smith, Managing Editor of Elections • Janie Valentine, Managing Editor of Law • Joel Williams. Managing Editor of Events • Andrew Bahl • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Jon Dunn • Thomas Ellis • Nicole Fisher • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Brianna Hosea • Molly Kehoe • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Norm Leahy, Senior Editor • Nathan Maxwell • Jimmy McAllister • Brandon McCauley • Ellie Mikus • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Annelise Reinwald • Ethan Rice • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Emma Soukup • Alexis Thacker • Mina Vogel • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox