Civic
Every race on your ballot, with sources. Races by stateJoin the Luminary network

2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Indiana House, District 42

Indiana House of Representatives. 2-year term.

Find your exact ballotAll legislative districts

What this office does

Members of the Indiana House of Representatives write and vote on state laws as part of the Indiana General Assembly. The House has 100 members, each representing one district for a two-year term [1].

The job in full — the duties the Indiana Code puts in it, the term, what it pays and who sets that, and what to ask a candidate.

Term
2 years [1]
Term limit
None [1]
Seats
100 [1]
On the 2026 ballot
All 100 [2]
What the law puts in this job (2)
  • Introduces and votes on state legislation as one of the two chambers of the Indiana General Assembly [1].
  • Must be at least 21 years old when taking office and have lived in the district for at least a year [1].

About this race

  • House District 42 covers all of Parke and Vermillion counties and parts of Clay, Fountain and Vigo counties in west-central Indiana [3].
  • Yocum is seeking his first full term; he joined the House by caucus in January 2025 after Alan Morrison, who held the seat for 13 years, became DNR director [5, 6]. WFYI reported Yocum had run unsuccessfully against Morrison in the 2024 Republican primary [6].
  • Yocum was the only Republican listed in the May 5, 2026 primary, and no Democratic primary candidate is listed for the district [16]. Vandivier appears on the Election Division's general-election list with a July 6, 2026 filing date, after the primary [2].
  • Key differences: Vandivier's campaign focuses on nurse staffing, maternal health, public-school funding, child care and paid family leave [17]; Yocum's 2026 bills dealt with eminent domain for carbon projects and county commissioner districts, and he voted against the 2025 congressional redistricting bill [14, 12, 10].
  • No debate or forum for the general election was found.

Candidates on the ballot

Brandi Vandivier

Democratic

Work
Neonatal intensive care nurse practitioner [17]

Brandi Vandivier is the Democratic nominee and describes herself as a neonatal nurse practitioner [17]. Her website centers on health care, public education and family policy [17].

Vandivier's background

  • Neonatal intensive care nurse practitioner, according to her campaign website [17].

Vandivier's positions

Health care

  • Says "we do not have a nursing shortage—we have a shortage of nurses willing to work under the current conditions," and supports making nurse-to-patient ratios public [17].
  • Cites Indiana's maternal mortality rate as a priority and says insurers should not be able to "delay, deny, or prevent medically necessary treatment" [17].

Education

  • Says "Public education is one of the most important investments we can make in our future" and opposes SB 1, which she says will cut school funding and limit local referendums [17].
  • Supports affordable higher education [17].

Child care & families

  • Criticizes the legislature for freezing child care voucher enrollment and loosening provider standards, and supports paid family and medical leave [17].
  • Says the state's budget surplus, which she puts at about $2.5 billion, should fund family services [17].

How Vandivier would run the office

  • Says she "will work to protect our public schools, support our teachers, and strengthen our communities" [17].

Vandivier on the current officeholder

  • Her website criticizes state leaders and the legislature generally but does not name Yocum [17].

What we could not find about Vandivier

  • No news coverage of her 2026 candidacy was found; town of residence not confirmed.
  • How she reached the ballot (likely a post-primary party vacancy filling, inferred from the July 6 filing date) is unconfirmed.
  • Her site's reference to 'SB 1' does not specify year; it may refer to the 2025 property-tax law (SEA 1).
  • No statements on redistricting, property taxes beyond schools, energy or data centers found.
  • No Democrat is listed in the May 5, 2026 primary for this district [16]; the Election Division list shows her filing dated July 6, 2026 [2]. No reporting was found on how she was selected.
  • No endorsements are listed on her website [17]; iVoterGuide lists her campaign website and Facebook page [18]. No fundraising figures were found.

Vandivier's campaign website

Sources for Vandivier

Tim R. Yocum

RepublicanIncumbent

Work
Works in operations at Duke Energy [3]

Tim Yocum is the Republican incumbent, appointed by caucus in January 2025 [4]. His bills have dealt with eminent domain for carbon projects and county redistricting procedures, and he broke with his caucus on the 2025 congressional map [14, 12, 10].

Yocum's background

  • Works in operations at Duke Energy; lives in Clinton [3].
  • Served 10 years as a Vermillion County commissioner, four as board president, and has chaired the Vermillion County Republican Party for 20 years [3].

Yocum's positions

Property rights & energy

  • On HB 1341: "Property owners should never be forced to give up their land for private carbon projects" [14].

Elections & redistricting

  • On HB 1342: "This legislation ensures a more fair and transparent process" for county commissioner districts [12].
  • Voted against HB 1032, the 2025 congressional redistricting bill, in committee and on the floor; he did not take media questions about the vote [9, 10].

Property taxes

  • Voted for SEA 1 (2025) [7]. An August 2026 caucus column under his name says the 2025 law delivers "more than $1.3 billion in property tax relief" through 2028 and moves referendums to general-election ballots [19].

Agriculture

  • Joined a lawmakers' letter asking the governor to let farmers use off-road diesel in trucks during harvest; said it was "a common-sense way to help reduce costs" [20].

Families & technology

  • Highlighted HEA 1408 on minors' social media use, saying "Parents have a right to decide if social media use is best for their child" [21].

Yocum on the current officeholder

  • Is the current officeholder. No statements by Yocum about Vandivier were found.

How Yocum got on the ballot

  • Selected by Republican caucus in January 2025 [6]; the only Republican listed in the May 5, 2026 primary [16].

What we could not find about Yocum

  • Whether HB 1342 became law was not confirmed.
  • No general-election debate or campaign statements found.
  • No campaign platform or website was found; iVoterGuide lists only a Facebook page [18].
  • No endorsements or fundraising figures were found.

Yocum's record in office

Indiana House record, District 42 (2025-2026) · compiled from the official record, Oct. 12-13, 2026

Authored
5
2 became law
Co-sponsored
3
3 became law

Committees, 2026 session

  • Elections and Apportionment
  • Environmental Affairs
  • Natural Resources

Floor votes

  • 2025: Yes 421, No 87, Not voting 2
  • 2026: Yes 268, No 107, Not voting 2
How Yocum voted on 18 selected bills
The 8 bills Yocum carried

  • SB 193: Inspection of CFOs.

    2025 · Co-sponsored · enacted: signed by the Governor

    Requires the department of environmental management (department) to conduct an onsite inspection of a confined feeding operation (CFO) once within 45 days of an initial approval and once within 90 days of a renewal of an approval to verify compliance with certain requirements.

  • HB 1233: Masking offenses.

    2026 · Authored · not reported from House committee

    Makes wearing a mask at a public assembly a Class C misdemeanor, and increases the penalty to a Class A misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense.

  • HB 1242: Education reports.

    2026 · Authored · enacted: signed by the Governor

    Requires the department of education to: (1) prepare a report compiling certain statewide data on school corporations and charter schools; and (2) submit the report to the legislative council and the interim study committee on education.

  • HB 1265: Natural resource entrance fees.

    2026 · Authored · not reported from House committee

    Allows counties to adopt an ordinance to impose a surcharge of not more than $2 in addition to the fees charged by the department of natural resources (department) for entry into state parks and state recreation areas.

  • HB 1341: Eminent domain.

    2026 · Authored · not reported from House committee

    Eliminates eminent domain authority for the following purposes: (1) Acquiring a right-of-way for the construction or operation of a pipeline for transporting carbon dioxide or other carbon oxides.

  • HB 1342: County commissioner districts.

    2026 · Authored · enacted: signed by the Governor

    Urges the legislative council to assign to an appropriate interim study committee the task of studying whether the county executive should implement certain processes with respect to establishing or revising districts.

  • SB 160: Public safety.

    2026 · Co-sponsored · enacted: signed by the Governor

    Makes wearing a mask during the commission of a criminal offense a sentencing aggravator.

  • SB 27: Stadium authority.

    2026 · Co-sponsored · enacted: signed by the Governor

    Establishes the northwest Indiana stadium authority (stadium authority) for the purpose of acquiring and financing certain facilities.

How this record was put together, and what it does not show

What we list: 28 bills chosen by a rule that does not look at topic: both state budgets, four bills named in advance, the 2025-26 redistricting bill, and in each session and chamber the 3 bills whose final-passage vote drew the most “nay” votes.

  • Votes reflect party caucus dynamics. Indiana has Republican supermajorities in both chambers, and many floor votes split along party lines; a single vote says little without the bill and its context.
  • Bills often die for procedural reasons, such as no committee hearing or a deadline, and a bill marked “not reported from committee” may have become law inside another bill.
  • A third-reading vote is on the version in front of the chamber at that time; the final version can be very different.
  • Authoring and co-authoring are different: co-authors sign on, often in large numbers, and usually did not write the bill.
  • Attendance counts roll calls on bills and joint resolutions (about 89% of numbered roll calls). “Excused” is an absence the chamber approved; “not voting” means no vote was recorded.

Where Yocum's record came from

Sources for Yocum

Forums and debates

Public events where you can see the candidates, from the hosts' own announcements. Check the host's page for changes before you go.

  • Tuesday, September 15, 2026 · Candidate forum (held)

    League of Women Voters state legislature candidate forum (Terre Haute area) · hosted by League of Women Voters

    Candidates invited or confirmed: Kacey Blundell, Greg Goode, Brandi Vandivier, Tim R. Yocum, Tonya Pfaff, Amy Lore, Rebecca Dawn (Becky) Mayfield

    Recording · Details (Blue 812 News (Substack))

Key points

  • House District 42 covers all of Parke and Vermillion counties and parts of Clay, Fountain and Vigo counties in west-central Indiana. (Indiana House Republican Caucus)
  • Yocum was the only Republican listed in the May 5, 2026 primary, and no Democratic primary candidate is listed for the district. Vandivier appears on the Election Division's general-election list with a July 6, 2026 filing date, after the primary. (Wikipedia)

Sources

Researched Saturday, October 10, 2026

  1. Indiana House of Representatives (Wikipedia)
  2. 2026 General Election Candidate List (Indiana Election Division)
  3. State Rep. Tim Yocum: biography and committees (Indiana House Republican Caucus)
  4. Yocum takes oath to serve as new state representative for House District 42 (Indiana House Republican Caucus)
  5. Caucus set for Indiana House Rep. District 42 seat (WTWO (via Yahoo News))
  6. GOP caucus selects Vermillion County Commissioner Tim Yocum to join state House (WFYI News (via WBOI))
  7. House Roll Call 433: SB 1 (Local government finance), third reading (Indiana General Assembly (roll-call PDF mirrored by FastDemocracy/BillTexts))
  8. Economic concerns: House Democrats try to revise redistricting bill (TheStatehouseFile.com)
  9. House Roll Call 28: HB 1032 (Redistricting), third reading (Indiana General Assembly (roll-call PDF mirrored by FastDemocracy/BillTexts))
  10. Rep. Yocum's legislation to allow public input for county commissioner districts passes House (Indiana House Republican Caucus)
  11. Rep. Yocum authors legislation to protect private property rights, regulate eminent domain (Indiana House Republican Caucus)
  12. 2026 Indiana House of Representatives election (Wikipedia)
  13. Brandi Vandivier for House District 42 (campaign website) (Brandi Vandivier campaign)
  14. Indiana State Representative, District 42: 2026 General Election (iVoterGuide)
  15. COLUMN: A clearer look at your property tax bill (Indiana House Republican Caucus)
  16. Reps. Heaton, Yocum: Governor answers lawmakers' call to provide diesel fuel relief for farmers (Indiana House Republican Caucus)
  17. State Reps. Heaton, Yocum highlight new state laws taking effect (Indiana House Republican Caucus)
What's included
the U.S. House, statewide offices, every Indiana House and Senate district on the ballot, Indiana's statewide public questions and judicial retention questions, and county, township, city, town and school board races from the Indiana Election Division's candidate list.
Everything else
Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: IndianaVoters.in.gov.
Candidate lists
As of Sunday, October 18, 2026.
At the polls
Indiana law lets you bring a list of candidates and public questions into the polling place, including one stored on your phone, as long as you don't electioneer. IC 3-11-8-18.5

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.