In the State Senate District 6 race, incumbent Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, is facing a Republican primary challenger, which hasn’t happened since 2014.
Niemeyer, who is seeking his fourth term in the state Senate, will face James (Jay) Starkey in the Republican primary. The winner of that race will face Kate-Lynn Holley, a Democrat running unopposed, in November.
Starkey did not respond to multiple requests for comment — including by phone, email and text message — but he shared his political positions on Facebook and campaign website. Starkey describes himself as a Christian, conservative Republican.
Niemeyer said he’s running for reelection because he’d like to continue working on environmental and property tax legislation.
“There’s stuff going on in Indiana that I’ve been a part of .. that I want to see done,” Niemeyer said.
Holley, a real estate agent, said this is her first time running for a political office. Holley described herself as a public servant who gives back to her community whenever possible.
When considering that her daughter has been growing up with fewer rights and that she and her husband work hard but are close to living paycheck to paycheck, Holley said she decided to run for office to make a change. Holley also said she decided to run because she saw that Niemeyer ran unopposed — by both Republicans and Democrats — in the 2022 election.
President Donald Trump’s administration started pressuring Indiana leaders last summer to consider midcensus redistricting to help Republicans retain their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. Redistricting — the redrawing of Congressional district lines — typically occurs every 10 years after the release of census data. Several Republican senators, including Niemeyer and Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, received swatting calls in November during the debate over whether to hold a special session to redistrict.
The legislature held a special session in December — the proposed maps would have given Republicans an advantage in all nine Congressional districts — which ended with the House passing the new maps but the Senate voting the maps down.
Niemeyer said he voted against redistricting because the maps weren’t drawn by Indiana state leadership. Niemeyer said he asked to see the maps far in advance of a potential vote, but wasn’t given the maps until days before the vote.
“I have to see the maps and be a part of this. I can’t vote without seeing it,” Niemeyer said.
Once he saw the maps, Niemeyer said he didn’t understand how the First Congressional District, which represents Northwest Indiana, was divided. Under the proposed maps, the First District was reshaped to exclude the northern half of Porter County and extend into eight counties to the east.
Niemeyer said he also didn’t feel comfortable splitting up the district without talking to the residents living there. He believes his vote against redistricting likely impacted his reelection campaign.
“It’s part of the dialogue in this election,” Niemeyer said.
Starkey wrote on Facebook that he supports redistricting because states like Illinois, California and New York have “aggressively” drawn Congressional maps in favor of Democrats, which “has been a real shift in congressional representation over time.” After Virginia voters approved new congressional districts in favor of Democrats, Starkey took to Facebook to criticize Indiana Republicans for voting against redistricting.
The Indiana constitution outlines that the state legislature should take up redistricting every 10 years after census data is released, Holley said.
Holley said she would vote against redistricting and was glad Niemeyer voted against it because the effort was a political push from Washington D.C.
Amid rising property tax bills, the Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 1 in 2025 to save two-thirds of taxpayers up to $300 on their 2026 property tax bill. But the impact on local governments and school districts has been extensive as they are proposed to lose $1.4 billion through 2028.
If reelected, Niemeyer said he’d support legislation that addresses property taxes through the lens of local government to ensure communities are supported.
“I’m going to be concerned with that because I’m concerned for schools and public safety,” Niemeyer said.
Starkey said in a Facebook post that homeowners still paying a mortgage have to shoulder the burden of paying the mortgage and property taxes. Retirees with a paid off home “should not be taxed out of something (they) already own,” Starkey wrote.
Holley said the $300 relief “is almost erased” as property taxes rise, and the cumulative $300 has more benefit for local governments. Cuts to local government and schools will have a negative impact on the communities, she said.
“I don’t have a complete answer of what ought to be done, but I would say $300 is very minimal to a household in any sort of relief and taking that cumulatively away from local governments is devastating to the local culture,” Holley said.
Holley, who attended Indiana’s public school system, said she benefited from her core education but she sees how the state is “missing the gap” in some elements of education.
“If we’re not putting our future first, which is our children, what are we doing? We’re bound to become a dilapidated state and society if we’re not building up those people who are supposed to run our state and our society next,” Holley said.
With the 2027 legislative session being a budget year, Niemeyer said the legislators will soon receive a forecast of money coming in.
“We’ll either do something different or make some cuts,” Niemeyer said.
Starkey said on his campaign website that he has been an advocate “for parental involvement in education.”
In the next session, if reelected, Niemeyer said he would push for all utility rate hikes to come before the legislators, who are elected officials, and not the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, made up of members appointed by the governor.
Starkey wrote on his campaign website that he supports “responsible economic growth” that enhances rural communities and the domestic economy.
Holley said she understands that corporations bring jobs, but the state has one of the lowest minimum wages in the country.
“I don’t think we need to entice them by giving them tax abatements that are going to outlive most of the legislators who are allowing it,” Holley said. “We just need to get our priorities straight. The Indiana government should be serving Hoosiers.”
