House District 45 stretches across all of Greene and Sullivan counties, plus portions of Daviess, Knox, and Vigo counties in southwest Indiana. This is coal country -- economically depressed rural territory in the state's southwestern corner. The Republican primary is the only election that matters.
The 2024 Republican primary is the essential context for this race. In a three-way contest, Borders won with just 38.0% of the vote, edging Streeter by 323 votes and Jeff Ellington by roughly 1,000 votes. That result means 62% of Republican primary voters chose someone other than Borders. In a two-way rematch, the arithmetic question is straightforward: where do Ellington's 2,558 voters go? If even a modest majority breaks toward Streeter, Borders loses.
Borders' primary margins have shrunk in each cycle: 35 points (2020), 7 points (2022), 3.5 points (2024). The trend line is unfavorable. Streeter enters the 2026 primary with stronger structural advantages than any previous Borders challenger. She holds the Knox County Commissioner presidency, was named County Commissioner of the Year in 2024, chairs the Indiana County Commissioners Association's Legislative Committee, and has endorsements from the Indiana Farm Bureau AgELECT PAC and the Knox County Council.
This is not an ideological challenge from the right or the center. It is a competence-and-representation argument: Streeter contends she is more effective, more engaged, and more connected to the district's practical needs than a long-serving incumbent whose primary margins have been shrinking for years.