Nine Republicans, four Dems seek Indiana 8th Congressional seat

Feb. 9—Republican Larry Bucshon's decision not to run for reelection to District 8's U.S. House Representative has encouraged a number of people to file to run for the position. Following Friday's noon filing deadline, nine Republicans and four Democrats had thrown their hats into the ring.

Republican candidates include Jim Case, Jeremy Heath, John N. Hostettler, Dominick Jack Kavanaugh, Mark Messmer, Luke Misner, Richard Moss, Kristi Risk and Jon Schrock.

Running for U.S. House Representative on the Democratic ticket are Erik Hurt, Peter Priest II, Edward Upton Sein and Michael Talarzyk.

Candidates run the gamut from the politically experienced to first-time campaigners.

Mark B. Messmer has represented District 48 as a member of the Indiana State Senate since 2014 and served as District 63's Indiana State Representative from 2008 to 2014. Hostettler was the 8th District's representative from 1995 to 2007, but lost the 2006 election by a record margin for an incumbent.

Luke Misner is a small business owner who lives in Dugger and served as Sullivan County's District 1 Commissioner from 2011-2015. Moss was beaten by Bucshon for the candidacy in the 2016 and 2018 Republican primaries. Risk lost to Bucshon in 2112's primary.

Heath was a write-in candidate for Secretary of State in 2018 and ran for District 77 State Representative in 2014 and District 50's Indiana State Senator. Schrock is a pastor who lives in Covington and is the National Field Director at The John Birch Society. Kavanaugh is an engineering project manager who calls himself a "MAGA Conservative." Jim Case's name on the ballot will read "Jim (JustIN) Case."

Among the Democrats, Boonville resident Sein is a newcomer to politics, but has already received the endorsement of Dave Crooks, the Democrat who came closest to unseating Bucshon, and has created a website, changecongress.com. Priest ran for the position in 2022, but lost to Ray McCormick in the primary. Hurt declared his candidacy on social media; his Facebook page has a number of videos of him sharing various policy views. Talarzyk is a school bus driver from Evansville.

Chairman of the Vigo County Republican Party Randy Gentry said he was "still processing everything I've got locally" to focus on a broader campaign like the one for the U.S. House of Representatives, but he was encouraged by the number of candidates.

"We've got contested races top to bottom — it's exciting," he said. "This is a great, great opportunity, once we take the time to know the new names and faces." Gentry admitted that he hadn't heard of at least one of the District 8 candidates.

Efforts tor reach Vigo County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Etling for comment on Friday were not successful.

Bucshon's decision not to run came as a surprise. Gentry said he had "no prior knowledge" of Bucshon's decision.

"We got no heads-up," he said. "I assume there was forethought to it, but it did not involve anybody that I know of."

The 8th District used to be known as "the Bloody 8th," due to a disputed 1984 election in which Republican Rick McIntyre assumed the office after defeating incumbent Democrat Frank McCloskey by a mere 34 votes.

Republicans had been the minority party in the district prior to that, but have been strong there since.

Indiana's 8th Congressional District is in southwest and west central Indiana. It includes Clay, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Greene, Knox, Martin, Orange, Owen, Parke, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Sullivan, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, and Warrick counties and half of Fountain county.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.