The Winner

Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-IN) will represent Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District for a third term, but by his closest margin yet. He defeated Democrat Jamee Decio and Libertarian William Henry, according to an Associated Press race call published by WTOP early Wednesday, Nov. 4. ​

Yakym has 97,503 votes (51.5%) to Decio’s 87,169 (46.0%) and Henry’s 4,825 (2.5%), in unofficial results listed on Ballotpedia’s race page. Two years ago he beat Democrat Lori Camp 62.7% to 34.6%.

The Race

Yakym won the seat in 2022 in a special election held after Rep. Jackie Walorski (R) died in a car crash. Decio, a South Bend attorney and former Elkhart County deputy prosecutor, was running for office for the first time. She came the closest of the six Indiana Democrats who lost their House races this year, the South Bend Tribune reported.

Decio won the Tuesday, May 5 Democratic primary with 72.1% over Shaun Maeyens, and Yakym was unopposed for the Republican nomination. Cook Political Report and Inside Elections rated the race Solid Republican, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Republican.

The district covers north-central Indiana, including all of St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall, Starke, Pulaski, Fulton, Wabash and Miami counties, plus parts of Cass, La Porte and Kosciusko, according to Mirror Indy. Its cities include South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart, Goshen and Warsaw.

About 752,500 people live in the district, the median age is about 38 and the typical household earns about $68,100 a year. About 25% of adults hold at least a bachelor’s degree. Residents are about 78% white, 12% Hispanic, 6% Black and 2% Asian, unemployment is about 4.2%, and about 13% live below the poverty line.

What’s Next

Yakym’s third term begins Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027, and the results stay unofficial until Indiana certifies them. He has made a ban on congressional stock purchases a priority. He backs the Stop Insider Trading Act, which would bar members of Congress and their families from buying individual stocks while in office.

The House passed the bill 232 to 198 in July, but it fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate on Sept. 30, and Yakym criticized Senate Democrats for blocking it. Democrats said the bill was too weak and objected to a voter ID requirement attached to it. Unless it passes in the lame-duck session, the bill dies when the current Congress ends Jan. 3.

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