HD-56: Wayne / Henry Counties (Safe R) -- Contested Republican Primary (Open Seat)
House District 56 covers all of Wayne County and a portion of Henry County in far eastern Indiana, hard against the Ohio border. The district's population center is Richmond (population approximately 35,000), the Wayne County seat, which sits along Interstate 70 roughly 70 miles east of Indianapolis. Wayne County's 2020 Census population was 66,553. The district also extends into the western edge of Henry County. This is deep-red territory -- HD-56 sits entirely within Indiana's 6th Congressional District, which carries a Cook PVI of R+16. In 2024, Barrett ran unopposed and collected 20,218 votes. When he faced a Democratic opponent in 2022, he won 69.9% to 30.1%. [1] [2] [3]
The seat is open because incumbent Brad Barrett announced on January 7, 2026, that he would not seek reelection after eight years in the Indiana House. Barrett, a retired general surgeon who practiced in Wayne County for 25 years and served as chief of surgery at Reid Health, was first elected in 2018 by defeating three-term incumbent Richard "Dick" Hamm in the Republican primary. He chaired the House Public Health Committee and compiled a legislative record focused squarely on healthcare -- surprise ambulance billing protections, breast cancer screening access, Medicaid oversight, nursing workforce expansion, dementia care programs, and a Green Alert system for missing veterans. He received the Indiana State Medical Association's Legislator of the Year award and the Sagamore of the Wabash. His departure removes significant healthcare policy expertise from the chamber. [2] [3] [4]
Three Republicans filed for the primary, but Adam Blanton withdrew on March 18, 2026, leaving an effective two-candidate race. Blanton's name remains on the ballot because the withdrawal deadline had passed; votes cast for him will not count. Blanton endorsed Pete Zaleski upon withdrawal. [5]
Randy Retter (R)
Randy Retter, the outgoing Wayne County Sheriff, filed on January 9, 2026 -- two days after Barrett's retirement announcement. Retter is term-limited out of the sheriff's office under Indiana law, making the state house race a natural next step in a career spent entirely in Wayne County public service. [6] [7]
Retter began his law enforcement career in 1988 and rose through the ranks of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office: Patrol Deputy, Patrol Sergeant, Detective Sergeant, Lieutenant, Enforcement Division Commander, and SWAT Team Leader. He was elected Sheriff in 2018 and is serving his second term. He earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Ball State University and is a graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. Beyond Wayne County, he served as President of the Indiana Sheriff's Association and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the National Sheriff's Association. He resides on property adjacent to his family farm in Wayne County with his wife Jacqueline; they have an adult daughter. Both his wife and daughter work in healthcare. [6] [7]
Retter's platform emphasizes public safety themes consistent with his career: reducing recidivism, expanding mental health and addiction-treatment partnerships, and strengthening school safety programs. His campaign statement frames his candidacy around rural community values: "After many years in public service, I've seen firsthand the challenges and opportunities facing our rural communities. I'm running for the Indiana House because I believe in strong, steady leadership that puts Hoosiers first and reflects the values of the people who live and work here." [6]
Retter's structural advantages in this race are substantial. As a two-term sheriff with statewide law enforcement association leadership, he has both name recognition across Wayne County and an institutional network that few first-time state house candidates can match. His connection to the Congressman is also notable -- U.S. Representative Jefferson Shreve invited Retter to a presidential address, a gesture that signals establishment Republican interest in his political trajectory. [7]
Pete Zaleski (R)
Pete A. Zaleski filed on February 5, 2026, the day before the filing deadline. Zaleski is a pharmacist and owner of Phillips Drugs in Richmond, an independent community pharmacy. His civic resume is extensive for a local candidate: he served on the Wayne County Council, the Richmond Community Schools board, the Wayne County Board of Health, and the Richmond Redevelopment Commission. He chaired the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County's board in 2024, capping six years of service on that body. [8] [5]
Zaleski explicitly positions himself as the continuity candidate for Barrett's priorities. He called the outgoing representative "an absolute gem" and said Barrett's healthcare and public health focus would be lost without someone committed to carrying it forward. As a pharmacist who has spent decades navigating the healthcare system from the provider side, Zaleski's professional alignment with Barrett's legislative portfolio is genuine -- he brings firsthand experience with pharmacy benefit managers, vaccine distribution, health department operations, and the economics of independent pharmacy in rural America. [8]
The endorsement from Adam Blanton upon withdrawal gives Zaleski a modest boost. Blanton, a Richmond police assistant chief, characterized Zaleski as "the right guy" after meeting with him. In a low-turnout primary where every faction matters, consolidating the non-Retter vote behind one candidate could be meaningful. [5]
Zaleski's challenge is that Retter's name recognition as sheriff likely exceeds his own. County council and school board service builds a civic network, but the sheriff's office is the most visible local government role in rural Indiana. The question is whether Zaleski's deeper policy preparation and Barrett-aligned positioning can offset Retter's broader public profile.
Adam Blanton (R, Withdrawn)
Adam Blanton filed on February 3, 2026, and withdrew on March 18, 2026. He serves as Assistant Chief of Police and Chief Public Information Officer for the Richmond Police Department. Before law enforcement, he worked as a nurse in medical-surgical and pediatric care. He had previously worked at the Wayne County Sheriff's Office under Retter. His candidacy statement was notably combative: "For too long, a small circle has decided who runs and who doesn't. I'm done waiting." His withdrawal cited family priorities and "future opportunities to serve." His name remains on the May ballot. [5] [8]
Thomas Rockwell (D)
Thomas Scott Rockwell filed on February 3, 2026, as the sole Democrat for HD-56. He is a Richmond resident who serves as a pastor of a small rural church and as a denominational leader whose work brings together people with different political and theological views. He also operates a small business in forestry, partnering with farmers and landowners. His platform emphasizes new generational leadership, affordable healthcare, locally-led solutions, and building consensus across political divides. He frames the district's assets as underappreciated: "The real expertise already lives here." [8]
Rockwell faces the same structural math as every Democrat in this district. Barrett won 69.9% in the last contested general election, and the underlying presidential lean is R+16. A Democratic candidate in HD-56 is making a statement about party presence, not making a competitive bid for the seat.
The Republican Primary Dynamic
The effective HD-56 primary is a two-candidate race between the county sheriff and a community pharmacist. Both are well-known in Wayne County civic life, both are running on platforms consistent with rural Republican values, and neither has a visible ideological gap with the other. This is a primary about profile and networks, not about policy disagreement.
Retter enters with the broader name recognition and a career narrative that resonates with Republican primary voters: decades in law enforcement, SWAT team leadership, state and national sheriff's association involvement. Zaleski enters with deeper policy preparation, a healthcare background that mirrors Barrett's priorities, and the Blanton endorsement. Neither candidate has publicly reported 2026 campaign finance data as of this writing.
The wildcard is Blanton's ghost candidacy. His name on the ballot will draw some votes -- likely from voters who know him through the Richmond Police Department but have not followed the race closely enough to know he withdrew. Every Blanton vote is a vote that does not go to either active candidate, and in a primary that may turn out fewer than 8,000 Republican voters total, even a few hundred lost votes could matter.
HD-57: Hendricks / Johnson / Morgan Counties (Safe R) -- Contested Republican Primary (Open Seat)
House District 57 covers portions of three counties in the suburban-to-rural ring southwest of Indianapolis: Hendricks, Johnson, and Morgan counties. The district was substantially redrawn in the 2021 redistricting cycle -- it formerly stretched across parts of Bartholomew, Hancock, and Shelby counties, but now centers on the Morgan County town of Mooresville (population approximately 10,000), portions of Johnson County including areas near Greenwood, and the southern edge of Hendricks County including Plainfield's vicinity. This is classic central Indiana exurban territory: growing, reliably Republican, and increasingly integrated into the Indianapolis commuter economy. Craig Haggard ran unopposed in both 2022 and 2024 general elections, collecting 22,413 votes in 2024 alone. [9] [10] [11]
The seat is open because incumbent Craig Haggard chose to run for Indiana's 4th Congressional District rather than seek reelection. Haggard, a Mooresville native and retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who flew AV-8B Harriers in Kosovo and F-16s with the Indiana Air National Guard, was first elected in 2022 after the seat was redrawn. He defeated Melinda Griesemer in the 2022 Republican primary 66.7% to 33.3% and ran unopposed in every subsequent election. He served on the Environmental Affairs, Roads and Transportation, and Veterans Affairs and Public Safety committees. His legislative record focused on veteran homelessness, military tax exemptions, school safety, and combating digitally altered inappropriate images. [10] [11]
Haggard's predecessor in the district's pre-redistricting configuration was Sean Eberhart (R), who represented HD-57 from 2007 to 2022. Eberhart later pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in a casino licensing scheme, accepting a promise of $350,000 annual employment from Spectacle Entertainment in exchange for supporting favorable legislation. He was sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison. The corruption case created an opening that attracted Haggard -- a political newcomer with a clean military record -- as the 2022 candidate in the redrawn district. [12]
Four Republicans and one Democrat filed for the 2026 race.
Tina Turner (R)
Tina Turner filed on January 22, 2026. She has lived in Indiana most of her life, with three decades in Morgan County. Her political involvement is party-organizational rather than elected: she has served as a precinct committee member for at least 12 years and currently holds the position of Morgan County Republican Secretary. She has no prior campaign for elected office. [13]
Turner's candidacy has the most visible institutional connection to the outgoing incumbent. Haggard personally encouraged her to run: "I was a supporter of his from the beginning, and when he was going to step up to run for Congress, he asked me if I would run." This makes Turner the closest thing to a Haggard-endorsed successor in the field, though Haggard has not made a formal public endorsement. [13]
Her platform centers on property tax relief ("voters for years have been asking for some relief"), cost-of-living pressures ("utilities are up, rents are up, and their wages have not kept pace"), and a commitment to constituent accountability over party leadership loyalty: "Stay true to your convictions and true to why you're there -- to work for the people -- not for special interests and not for the Republican leadership." She also expressed frustration with Indiana Republicans who opposed the Trump-backed redistricting plan that she believed could have yielded additional U.S. House seats. [13]
Turner's strength is her Morgan County party network, built over 12 years as a precinct committee member and secretary. Her challenge is that the district spans three counties, and party organizational roles in Morgan County do not necessarily translate to name recognition in the Johnson or Hendricks County portions of the district.
Wes Bennett (R)
Wesley Bennett filed on January 8, 2026 -- the first day of the filing period. His background is in local government finance and state regulatory agencies. He served 12 years as the elected Clerk-Treasurer for the Town of Plainfield (in Hendricks County), during which time he built a reputation for fiscal management. In 2017, Governor Eric Holcomb appointed him Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF), the state agency that oversees property tax assessment and local government budgets. In 2023, Holcomb appointed him to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC), where he served until October 2025. [14] [15]
Bennett's professional background is unusually relevant to the issues driving this race. Property taxes and utility costs are the top voter concerns in central Indiana's exurban districts, and Bennett has held senior positions in the two state agencies most directly responsible for those issues. A candidate who can credibly say "I've already done this work at the state level" has a distinctive positioning in a four-way primary where the other candidates lack comparable government experience.
Bennett's challenge is voter awareness. Clerk-treasurer and state commission roles are functionally invisible to most voters, even in the communities they serve. The filing records show Bennett resides in Plainfield, which is in Hendricks County -- only a portion of which falls within HD-57. Whether he has built sufficient recognition in the Johnson and Morgan County portions of the district is unclear.
Greg "No Bull" Knott (R)
Greg Knott filed on January 30, 2026. Born in Bloomington, Indiana, he earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana University in 1997. He has worked for 26 years as a network administrator and CAD technician at a land surveying, civil engineering, and GIS firm. Earlier in his career, he worked as a defense contractor at Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane (NSWC Crane) and as an IT consultant for a state government contractor. [16]
Knott is a serial candidate with a complicated partisan history. He chaired the Monroe County Libertarian Party from 2008 to 2010 and ran for U.S. House IN-09 as the Libertarian candidate in 2010. He subsequently switched to the Republican Party and ran twice for Indiana House District 62 -- losing the 2020 primary to incumbent Jeff Ellington (30.3% to 69.7%) and losing the 2022 primary to Dave Hall (43.3% to 56.7%). His 2026 run in HD-57 represents his third attempt at a state house seat and his first in this district. His filing lists Camby as his residence, which falls in the Morgan County portion of the district. [16]
Knott's platform is a "Contract with Hoosiers" featuring six commitments that include repealing coal mandates and eliminating corporate welfare. He emphasizes that he has "never accepted government paychecks or corporate PACs." His campaign finance in 2022 was modest: $30,606 raised and $19,964 spent. [16]
The challenge for Knott is a track record of losing. Two consecutive primary defeats in a different district, combined with a Libertarian-to-Republican party switch, creates a profile that Republican primary voters may view with skepticism. His platform positions are more libertarian-inflected than typical Indiana Republican fare, which may appeal to a niche but limits his ceiling in a conventional Republican primary.
Rob Stiles (R)
Rob Stiles filed on February 6, 2026, the last day of the filing period. His filing lists Greenwood as his residence, placing him in the Johnson County portion of the district. Beyond his filing record, Stiles has minimal public campaign presence -- no identifiable campaign website, no visible campaign social media, and no local media coverage of his candidacy as of this writing. [9]
One notable data point: a "Rob and Stephanie" from Greenwood were cited by Governor Mike Braun in his 2025 State of the State Address as an example of Hoosiers struggling with property tax increases -- their bill doubled from $715 to over $1,500 since 2021. Whether this is the same Rob Stiles who filed for HD-57 is unconfirmed, but the geographic and thematic alignment is suggestive. [17]
Without a visible campaign infrastructure, Stiles appears to be a placeholder or aspirational candidate rather than a serious contender in a four-way primary. Late filing combined with no public campaign materials is a pattern consistent with someone testing the waters rather than committing to a full race.
Suzanne Fortenberry (D)
Suzanne Fortenberry filed on January 7, 2026 -- the very first day of the filing period -- as the sole Democrat for HD-57. She is a White River Township resident in Johnson County who has lived in the county for 22 years. She has worked as a courier at FedEx for over 25 years and serves as executive director of Greenwood Pride, directing the annual Pride Festival. In 2022, she led a grassroots initiative that raised over $20,000 for Every Kid Eats, feeding struggling families in Johnson County. She is married to Chele Heid. [18]
Fortenberry is not new to politics. She ran unsuccessfully for White River Township Trustee in 2022 and for Indiana State Senate District 36 in 2024, losing the general election to appointed incumbent Cyndi Carrasco. In the 2024 senate race, she was massively outspent -- Carrasco raised $237,267 versus Fortenberry's $14,685 -- but earned endorsements from LPAC, Better Indiana PAC, MADVoters, and the Our Choice Coalition. [18]
Her platform focuses on working-class advocacy: "We need people to stand up for working-class people, not just the people who have all the money and all the power." She and her wife filed in part so that "voters know there is not just one choice." In HD-57, where Haggard ran completely unopposed in both 2022 and 2024, providing a Democratic option on the ballot is itself the statement. [18]
Fortenberry's realistic ceiling in this district is single-digit improvement over the typical Republican margin. She brings genuine community involvement, but the structural Republican lean of the district is overwhelming.
The Republican Primary Dynamic
The four-way HD-57 primary has three candidates with real credentials and one who appears to be a placeholder.
Turner has the Haggard connection and the Morgan County party network. Bennett has the most directly relevant professional experience -- years of work in the state agencies that handle property taxes and utility regulation, the two issues dominating voter conversations. Knott has the most campaign experience but also the most losses. Stiles has filed and done nothing else visible.
The key question is whether Bennett's government finance background translates into a compelling primary campaign. In a normal cycle, a former IURC commissioner and DLGF commissioner running in a suburban district obsessed with property taxes and utility rates would be a formidable candidate. But commission service is not the kind of experience that generates yard signs and door-knockers. Turner, by contrast, has spent 12 years building precinct-level relationships in the party and has the personal ask from the outgoing incumbent.
In a four-way race, the winner may need only 30-35% of the vote. That means a candidate with a committed base of 2,000-3,000 voters in a single county could win even without broad district-wide recognition. This dynamic slightly favors candidates with concentrated geographic strength over those with diffuse professional credentials.
Why It Matters
These two open-seat primaries demonstrate how Indiana's state house seats turn over -- not through competitive general elections, but through the mechanics of retirement, term limits, and intra-party succession.
In HD-56, Brad Barrett's retirement removes a healthcare policy specialist from the chamber and sets up a contest between two well-credentialed Wayne County figures. The winner will represent eastern Indiana's rural communities in a safe seat for the foreseeable future. The most interesting subplot is Adam Blanton's ghost candidacy -- his name on the ballot will siphon real votes in a race where margins may be thin.
In HD-57, Craig Haggard's congressional ambitions create a four-way scramble in a district still finding its identity after being substantially redrawn in 2021. The district's predecessor held a representative who went to federal prison for corruption. Its current representative served only two terms before jumping to a congressional race. The 2026 winner will be HD-57's third representative in four years, in a district whose geographic boundaries bear little resemblance to what they looked like a decade ago.
In both districts, the general elections are foregone conclusions. The Republican primary winners will serve. The question is which version of Republican representation these communities will get -- and in HD-57, whether the voters even know the candidates well enough to make an informed choice in a four-way primary with no incumbent, no dominant frontrunner, and no major institutional endorsements to guide them.