HD-64: Gibson / Knox / Vanderburgh (Safe R)
Matt Hostettler (R, Incumbent)
Son of a congressman, oil-patch worker turned legislator, now in his fourth term representing southwest Indiana.
Matt Hostettler, 39, has represented District 64 since November 2018. The district covers portions of Gibson, Knox, and Vanderburgh counties in southwest Indiana -- rural, agricultural, and oil-producing territory. [1]
Hostettler grew up in Blairsville, Posey County. He graduated from North Posey High School and earned a B.S. in Management from Purdue University's Krannert School of Management as a National Merit Scholar Finalist. Before entering politics, he worked as a crude oil gauger and pipeline operator for CountryMark Refining and Logistics (2015-2018), the farmer-owned cooperative that operates Indiana's only oil refinery in nearby Mount Vernon. He lives in Patoka, Gibson County, with his wife Michelle and their four children. [1]
The family name is not incidental. His father, John Hostettler, served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1995-2007) representing Indiana's 8th Congressional District -- the same region of southwest Indiana that Matt now represents at the state level. The elder Hostettler was a conservative Republican known for opposition to the Iraq War, making him an unusual figure in the Bush-era GOP. [2]
Hostettler serves as Vice Chair of the Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee. [1]
Electoral history: Hostettler has never faced a serious general election challenge. He ran unopposed in 2018, won 75.9% against Democrat Ian Gamroth in 2020, ran unopposed in 2022, and ran unopposed again in 2024. He defeated Dale Mallory in the 2024 Republican primary -- his only contested race since the 2018 primary where he beat Ken Beckerman and Bruce Ungethiem. [3]
2026 status: Hostettler filed for re-election. No Democrat filed. No primary challenger. This will be his fifth term. [4]
HD-66: Clark / Jefferson / Scott (Safe R)
Zach Payne (R, Incumbent)
Young Republican who flipped a 20-year Democratic seat, now entrenched in southern Indiana's Louisville suburbs.
Zach Payne, 37, has represented District 66 since 2020. The district covers portions of Clark, Jefferson, and Scott counties in southern Indiana -- part of the greater Louisville, Kentucky metropolitan area. Charlestown, Scottsburg, and parts of rural Jefferson County make up the core territory. [5]
Payne was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana. He attended Jeffersonville High School, graduated from New Albany High School, and has accumulated an unusual number of degrees for a state legislator: a B.S. from Charter Oak State College, an MBA from the University of Southern Indiana, and an M.S. in Communication from Purdue University. He works in marketing as a business development director and co-founder of a custom print and design company. He lives in Charlestown with his wife Callie and their child. [5]
Payne's political career started early. He was elected to the Jeffersonville City Council in 2011 at age 22, winning a three-way race with 42.6% against an independent and a Democrat. He served from 2012 to 2014, then won election as Clark County Recorder, serving from 2015 to 2020. [6]
In 2020, Payne defeated 20-year incumbent Democrat Terry Goodin with approximately 56% of the vote -- one of several rural Democratic seats that flipped Republican in the Trump era. Goodin had held HD-66 since 2000, making him one of the last blue-dog Democrats in the Indiana General Assembly. The flip was part of a broader national pattern of rural Democratic incumbents losing seats they had held through personal relationships and moderate branding once the district's presidential voting behavior caught up with them. [6]
Payne serves as Vice Chair of the Elections and Apportionment Committee and sits on the Education and Employment, Labor, and Pensions committees. His legislative focus includes school choice, income tax cuts, gun rights (including constitutional carry and red flag repeal), immigration enforcement, and government accountability. [5]
Electoral history: Won 56% in 2020 (defeating Goodin), 69.9% in 2022, and 69.0% in 2024 (defeating Jennifer David). He also defeated Jim Baker in the 2024 Republican primary. [7]
2026 status: Payne filed for re-election. No Democrat filed. No primary challenger. The seat that was competitive as recently as 2020 is now effectively uncontested. [4]
HD-67: Decatur / Jefferson / Jennings / Ripley (Safe R)
Alex Zimmerman (R, Incumbent)
Senate staffer turned small-town attorney, appointed to fill a vacancy and now running in his first election cycle with opposition.
Alex Zimmerman, 33, has represented District 67 since July 2023. The district covers portions of Decatur, Jefferson, Jennings, and Ripley counties in southeast Indiana -- deeply rural territory centered on North Vernon (Jennings County seat) and stretching to parts of Madison (Jefferson County). [8]
Zimmerman was born and raised in Delaware County (Muncie area), not in the district he now represents. He earned a B.A. from Franklin College in 2015 and a J.D. from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 2020. Between undergraduate and law school, he worked in the Indiana Senate from 2015 to 2020, rising through the ranks from legislative assistant to majority legal associate to deputy majority attorney. He moved to North Vernon to open a private law practice focusing on criminal defense, family law, estate planning, and municipal law. He lives there with his wife Kayla (also an attorney) and their son Liam. [8]
Zimmerman got the seat through the Republican caucus process. Rep. Randy Frye resigned on July 8, 2023, due to declining health. Nine days later, on July 17, Zimmerman won the caucus on the first ballot with 26 of 49 precinct member votes at the Ripley County Courthouse Annex in Versailles, defeating three other Republicans. [9]
His legislative work has focused on child welfare (reducing time children spend in foster care), expanding fire protection districts, public safety, and criminal justice reform. [8]
Electoral history: Zimmerman defeated Chad Meinders in the 2024 Republican primary and ran unopposed in the 2024 general election. [10]
2026 status: Zimmerman filed for re-election and faces no Republican primary challenger. Justin Chadwick (D) has filed in the Democratic primary, meaning this race will have a general election contest. In a district this deep-red, however, the general election is functionally uncontested -- Zimmerman's predecessor Randy Frye routinely won with 70%+ margins. Chadwick's candidacy ensures voters have a choice on the ballot, but the outcome is not in doubt. [4]
Justin Chadwick (D, Challenger)
Little public information is available about Justin Chadwick. He filed as a Democratic candidate for HD-67 in the 2026 cycle. No campaign website, endorsements, fundraising data, or news coverage could be identified as of March 31, 2026. [4]
HD-68: Dearborn / Ohio / Switzerland / Jefferson (Safe R)
Garrett Bascom (R, Incumbent)
Attorney General's office alumnus and prosecutor, now in his first full term representing Indiana's southeastern border with Ohio and Kentucky.
Garrett Bascom, approximately 32, has represented District 68 since November 2024. The district covers all of Dearborn, Ohio, and Switzerland counties, plus a portion of Jefferson County -- the southeastern corner of Indiana along the Ohio River, bordering both Ohio and Kentucky. Lawrenceburg and Aurora are the major population centers. [11]
Bascom is a lifelong Dearborn County native from Lawrenceburg. He graduated from South Dearborn High School, earned a bachelor's degree in communication and new media studies (with a minor in leadership development) from Mount St. Joseph University, graduating summa cum laude, and earned his J.D. from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 2020. [11]
His career path ran through state government before returning home. While in law school, Bascom worked full-time in the Indiana Attorney General's Office, serving as legislative assistant, assistant director of operations, special assistant to the attorney general, and deputy attorney general. After law school, he became Deputy Prosecutor for Dearborn and Ohio counties, then founded his own practice (Bascom & Kisor LLC) in 2023 to serve southeastern Indiana. He met his wife Haley at Mount St. Joseph University; they married in 2017 and have three children. [11]
Bascom won the seat in 2024 after Rep. Randy Lyness announced his retirement following eight years of service. Lyness, a homebuilder from West Harrison, had focused on taxpayer protection, law enforcement support, and economic growth during his tenure. Bascom ran unopposed in the Republican primary and defeated Democrat Lisa Barker with 76.5% (5,795 votes to 1,781) in the general election. [12]
His legislative focus in his first session included mental health services access, immigration law enforcement, justice system reform, and Second Amendment rights. He authored or sponsored five bills that were signed into law. [11]
2026 status: Bascom filed for re-election and faces no Republican primary challenger. Hunter Collins (D) has filed in the Democratic primary. Like HD-67, this race will appear on the general election ballot but the Republican incumbent is an overwhelming favorite. [4]
Hunter Collins (D, Challenger)
Amazon warehouse worker and Teamsters organizer making his first state-level run.
Hunter Collins, 27, lives in Aurora with his wife Haylee and their daughter Johanna. He works as a warehouse lead at Amazon Air and as an organizer with Teamsters Local 89, spending the last two years on the effort to unionize Amazon. "I've gone up against one of the largest corporations in the world on behalf of working people," he has said. "Now, I'm bringing that same fight to Indianapolis to stand up for working families in Southeast Indiana." [13]
His campaign focuses on lowering taxes, restoring infrastructure, fully funding public schools, healthcare access, workers' rights, cannabis legalization, and affordable housing. His slogan is "Fighting for the People -- Not the Powerful." [13]
Collins is not entirely new to electoral politics. He previously ran for Dearborn County Council At-Large, a local race where he campaigned on public safety, expanding housing opportunities, and attracting good-paying jobs. [14]
Fundraising: No fundraising data available. [13]
Endorsements: None documented. [13]
Pattern Note
These four districts illustrate the structural reality of Indiana state House elections. All four are deeply Republican -- the incumbents won their most recent contested general elections by margins ranging from 56% (Payne's 2020 flip) to 100% (Hostettler and Zimmerman running unopposed). Two of the four (HD-64 and HD-66) drew no Democratic challenger at all for 2026. The other two drew challengers, but one (Chadwick in HD-67) appears to have no public campaign infrastructure, and the other (Collins in HD-68) is running a grassroots labor campaign in a district that went 76.5% Republican in 2024.
Three of the four incumbents are under 40. Two (Zimmerman and Bascom) are attorneys who graduated from IU McKinney Law in the same class of 2020. Both came to their seats through Republican pipeline mechanisms -- Zimmerman via caucus appointment, Bascom by winning the open seat after a retirement. This is what party bench-building looks like at the state level.