Result
Rep. Wendy McNamara (R-Evansville) won a ninth term in Indiana House District 76 on Tuesday, Nov. 3, defeating Democrat Logan Patberg with 56.3% of the vote. Unofficial results show McNamara with 11,282 votes to Patberg’s 8,765, or 43.7%.
It was McNamara’s first contested general election since 2022, when she won with 60.2% in a three-way race. She ran unopposed in 2024, and both candidates were unopposed in their May 5 primaries this year. Indiana House terms begin the day after the election, so her new term started Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Candidates and Platforms
McNamara spent 31 years with the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation as a teacher and administrator and chairs the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee. She authored House Bill 1116, making Indiana the first state to ban cryptocurrency kiosks, which she said scammers used to target seniors. She also wrote a 2026 law raising penalties for child exploiters. In a WNIN interview, she named public safety and juvenile justice, career and technical education and reducing government costs as priorities.
Patberg, a public school teacher in the same school corporation, sits on the board of the Evansville Teachers Association and previously worked in the automotive industry. He made lowering utility costs his top priority, proposing to eliminate the 7% sales tax on residential utility bills and cap how quickly investor-owned utilities can raise rates.
District and Chamber
District 76 covers all of Posey County, including Mount Vernon, New Harmony and Poseyville, and part of Vanderburgh County on Evansville’s west side. Statewide, Democrats gained 16 House seats, ending the Republican supermajority that began with the 2012 elections and leaving an expected 54-46 Republican majority.
---
AllCiv makes it easy to stay politically informed and involved.
---
Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article