The Race
Indiana Senate District 4 is one of the few genuinely competitive state senate seats in Indiana -- and it sits in the part of the state where the word "competitive" still means something. The district stretches across northern Porter County and northwestern LaPorte County, taking in the lakefront communities of Burns Harbor, Chesterton, Porter, and Portage on the Porter County side, and Michigan City and Westville on the LaPorte side. [1] This is Northwest Indiana -- "The Region" -- where steel mills and the Indiana Dunes share the shoreline, where union halls still matter, and where the politics have historically been more purple than the rest of the state.
The district was redrawn after the 2020 census, absorbing all of Michigan City while giving up Wheeler. [2] That change shifted the district's composition, bringing in a city with a significant Black population and a Democratic lean. The result: a district where a Democrat can win and hold a seat, but not comfortably.
SD-4 falls entirely within Indiana's 1st Congressional District, represented by Democrat Frank Mrvan. At the presidential level, the broader region went for Trump, but the district itself is close enough that Rodney Pol Jr. won the 2022 general election with approximately 53% of the vote. [1] That 6-point margin is neither safe nor hopeless. It is the kind of seat Republicans believe they can flip -- and the kind Democrats cannot afford to lose given their 40-10 minority in the Indiana Senate.
The Incumbent: Rodney Pol Jr. (D)
Rodney Pol Jr. arrived in the Indiana Senate through appointment, not election. When Karen Tallian resigned in 2021 after nearly two decades representing the district, the local Democratic caucus selected Pol as her replacement. He assumed office on November 1, 2021. [3]
His background is rooted in the region. Born in East Chicago, he graduated from Chesterton High School and paid his way through college and law school working construction jobs and public service positions. He holds a BA in psychology, political science, and music from Indiana University Bloomington and a JD from the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law. [3] Before entering the Senate, he served as Gary's city attorney from 2014 to 2021 and as a public defender in the Indiana State Public Defender's Office from 2010 to 2014. [4]
In the Senate, Pol has risen quickly within the Democratic caucus. He was elected Caucus Chair in 2024 -- a leadership position that makes him one of the most visible Democrats in a chamber dominated 40-10 by Republicans. [5] His committee assignments reflect a legal background put to use: he serves on Corrections and Criminal Law, the Judiciary Committee, and the Ethics Committee (as Vice Chair), along with Appropriations and Pensions and Labor. [5]
In the 2022 primary, Pol defeated three Democratic challengers -- Todd Connor, Deb Chubb, and Ron Meer -- before winning the general election against Republican Jeff Larson with roughly 53% of the vote. [1] He is unopposed in the 2026 Democratic primary.
On the redistricting fight that dominated the 2025 special session, Pol voted against HB 1032 along with all Democrats and seven Republican senators. [6] That vote was expected for a Democrat, but Pol's Northwest Indiana colleagues on both sides of the aisle -- Republicans Mike Bohacek, Blake Doriot, Ryan Mishler, and Linda Rogers, along with Democrat David Niezgodski -- all voted the same way. All six senators representing the Michiana region voted no. [6]
Pol lives in Chesterton with his wife Alayna Lightfoot Pol, who serves on the Duneland School Corp. school board and teaches in the Michigan City Area school system. [5]
Republican Primary
Two Republicans are competing in the May 5 primary for the right to challenge Pol in November. They could not be more different.
Nate Uldricks
Nate Uldricks is the Porter County Republican Party chairman and Pine Township Board chairman -- the party's organizational leader in the district's most populous county. [7]
His resume is unusually strong for a state senate candidate. A third-generation Porter County citizen, he grew up in a working-class military family in Portage, graduated from Portage High School, and then accumulated three degrees: a BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, an MA in Government from Johns Hopkins University, and an MBA from the University of Virginia. [8] He spent twelve years in the private sector before moving into federal government service, where he held three successive chief of staff positions: to the Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense, to the Deputy Director of Management at the Office of Management and Budget, and to the CFO of the Department of Labor. [9] In those roles, he was involved in efforts to reduce improper payments by hundreds of millions of dollars and helped develop the president's management agenda for federal modernization. [9]
He returned to Northwest Indiana and now leads product strategy for Fabius Labs, a technology startup. [8] He is also a volunteer firefighter with the Beverly Shores Fire Department, a Porter County Parks Foundation board member, a past Porter County election judge, past president of the Purdue Engineering Alumni Association, and a certified Master Naturalist. [8] The NW Times named him to its "20 Under 40" list, and in 2024 he was selected as a Club for Growth Foundation fellow. [10]
His campaign platform emphasizes economic development: making Northwest Indiana the "Workshop of America" by leveraging the South Shore Line double-track investment, the Quantum Corridor, and the Indiana Dunes National Park designation. He supports local farmers, small businesses, and unions, and wants to redevelop abandoned industrial sites. He has also pledged to make the district's roads the safest and cleanest in the state. [7] He has endorsements from Portage Mayor Austin Bonta and Porter County Councilman Red Stone. [7]
Uldricks brings something that few state senate candidates offer: a combination of deep local roots, federal executive experience, and elite academic credentials. His challenge is translating that resume into a general election victory in a district that has been trending Democratic.
Johannes Poulard
Johannes Poulard is making his second run for this seat. In the 2022 Republican primary, he received 21.2% of the vote against Jeff Larson, who went on to lose to Pol in the general election. [1]
Poulard is a Michigan City resident described as a multilingual entrepreneur and Russian Orthodox Christian with European immigrant heritage. He has international business interests in the country of Georgia and serves as Board Secretary of the Hoosier Enquirer, a position he was appointed to in June 2025. [11]
His 2026 campaign announcement was accompanied by an unusual move: a lawsuit. On December 31, 2025, Poulard filed suit in LaPorte County Superior Court against the City of Michigan City, Mayor Angie Nelson-Deuitch, the Michigan City Police Department, several officers, and the LaPorte County Prosecutor's Office. The suit alleges malicious prosecution stemming from a 2025 arrest on an Operating While Intoxicated charge. Poulard says he blew 0.00 on a breathalyzer three times and passed a field sobriety test, but claims evidence was deliberately withheld to prolong the case. The charges were eventually dismissed, reportedly with the involvement of Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith. Poulard characterizes the arrest as politically motivated "lawfare" orchestrated by the mayor to prevent him from seeking office. [11]
That lawsuit has become the centerpiece of his platform. His campaign emphasizes combating government and police corruption, reforming law enforcement hiring, and criminalizing what he calls "lawfare" -- the deliberate misuse of the justice system for political harm. He also highlights his opposition to COVID-19 mandates and his participation in pro-life activism since college. [11] [12]
Poulard's candidacy presents Republican primary voters with a choice about tone and emphasis. Where Uldricks runs on economic development and governing credentials, Poulard runs on grievance and anti-corruption, with his own legal battle as exhibit A.
Why It Matters
SD-4 matters for three reasons.
First, it is one of the few seats where Democrats hold ground in the Indiana Senate. With a 40-10 supermajority, Republicans do not need this seat for legislative power -- but flipping it would further marginalize a Democratic caucus that already cannot block constitutional amendments or override vetoes. Every seat Democrats lose makes their minority less functional.
Second, the Republican primary is a test of what kind of candidate the party wants to run in a competitive district. Uldricks represents the resume-and-credentials model: local roots, federal experience, policy substance, Club for Growth connections. Poulard represents the grievance-and-confrontation model: personal legal battles elevated to political platform, cultural conservatism, and suspicion of institutional authority. The primary will reveal which Republican electorate shows up in Porter and LaPorte counties on May 5.
Third, the general election -- whoever emerges from the Republican primary -- will test whether Pol's 2022 margin holds. He won by roughly 6 points in a midterm year. The 2026 cycle is also a midterm, but the political environment has shifted. Pol's elevation to Caucus Chair raises his profile but also makes him a target. His legal background and committee work give him a legislative record to run on, but in a supermajority chamber, minority party senators struggle to point to tangible wins.
The fundamental dynamic is geographic. Northwest Indiana is where Chicago's economic gravity meets Indiana's Republican politics. The lakefront communities and Michigan City lean Democratic; the inland Porter County townships lean Republican. SD-4 is drawn across that fault line, and every cycle the question is the same: which side turns out.