SB
Sarah Blessing
Democratic
- Work
- Taught for 18 years at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School; co-founded Project Next, a media company [20]
Sarah Blessing is a former teacher who was the 2024 Democratic nominee against Engleman [11]. She won a three-way Democratic primary in May 2026 [10].
Blessing's background
- Raised in Floyds Knobs and a 1999 Floyd Central High School graduate; holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from IU Southeast and a master's in education from Indiana Wesleyan University [20].
- Taught for 18 years at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School in New Albany, then volunteered with the Harrison County Democratic Party [20].
- Co-founded Project Next, a media company focused on community conversations, where she hosts interviews [20, 18].
Blessing's positions
Education
- Says public tax dollars should fund public schools open to every child; says parents may choose private or religious schools but taxpayers should not pay the tuition, and notes voucher spending has grown to nearly $500 million a year [18].
- Says teachers, superintendents, parents and local school boards should have a stronger voice in school rules [18]; her platform calls for fair pay for educators and keeping curriculum decisions with local educators and parents [17].
Data centers
- Opposes the long-term sales-tax exemptions Indiana offers qualifying data centers without strong protections, and wants disclosure of water and electricity use and safeguards against higher utility bills [18, 17].
- Supports local control and zoning authority over data centers and large solar projects, and says host communities should receive real benefits [18].
Health care
- Supports protecting Medicaid coverage, paying rural hospitals fairly, and state investment to bring doctors, nurses and mental-health workers to small communities [18].
- Says Indiana's abortion law should change so medical decisions are made by a woman, her doctor and her family, citing doctors' warnings that the law can delay care [18].
Property taxes
- Platform calls for property-tax relief for working families, transparency in how taxes are calculated, and stopping utilities from shifting costs onto ratepayers [17].
Economy & jobs
- Supports fast rural internet, help for small businesses and family farms, and job training as ways to grow rural jobs [18].
Government & ethics
- Says her top priority would be shorter, single-issue bills so the public can understand them, plus stronger state oversight when local officials fail to account for public money [18].
How Blessing would run the office
- Says she would work with anyone willing to help Hoosiers and would "sit at the table with anyone who is willing to put people over party" [18].
Blessing on the current officeholder
- In 2024 she said she would "work together across the aisle to reverse these hurtful laws and restore freedom," citing energy bills, public-school funding and women's medical decisions [11]. In 2026 she said she is running because "regular Hoosiers have lost their voice in state government" [18].
How Blessing got on the ballot
- Ran in 2024 as the Democratic nominee against Engleman [11], who won with 73.4% [10].
- Filed for 2026 by mid-January [13]; won the May 5 Democratic primary with 49.9% over Jerry Finn and Tamyra Persinger-Andres [10].
Blessing's endorsements and funding
- Her campaign site lists the Center for Freethought Equality among supporters [21]; iVoterGuide lists the Center for Freethought Equality and Indivisible NWI [22]. No fundraising totals were verified.
What we could not find about Blessing
- A partisan blog post comparing the candidates (linked from her site) was not used.
- Her town of residence was not confirmed.
- Her campaign site describes the district as parts of Harrison, Washington and Floyd counties and leaves out Clark County, which LPM and the House Republican caucus include.
- No campaign finance reports were reviewed.
Blessing's campaign website
SF
Scott L. Fluhr
Republican
- Work
- Human resources information systems analyst at Horseshoe Southern Indiana [23]
Scott Fluhr is a Corydon human resources analyst who has chaired the Harrison County Republican Party for nearly 18 years [5]. He won the May 2026 Republican primary with 68.5% [10].
Fluhr's background
- Lifelong Harrison County resident from Corydon; graduate of Corydon Central High School and Indiana University Bloomington (business) [5, 23].
- Works as an HRIS (human resources information systems) analyst at Horseshoe Southern Indiana [23]; also writes the blog The Hoosierpundit [23].
- Volunteer chairman of the Harrison County Republican Party for almost 18 years; president of the Harrison County Parks & Recreation Board; member of the county tourism board; chairs the Popcorn Festival parade [5].
Fluhr's positions
Values
- His campaign site cites an "AQ" rating from the National Rifle Association and an Indiana Right to Life endorsement [5].
Fluhr on the current officeholder
- Endorsed in the primary by Rep. Karen Engleman, the departing seat holder [5]. No statements by Fluhr on the seat's direction or on his opponents were found.
How Fluhr got on the ballot
- Filed Jan. 7, 2026 [13]; won the May 5 Republican primary over John Colburn, 4,159 votes (68.5%) to 1,914 [10].
Fluhr's endorsements and funding
- Primary endorsements listed by his campaign: Indiana Right to Life, U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, Attorney General Todd Rokita, State Treasurer Daniel Elliott, state Sen. Gary Byrne, Rep. Karen Engleman and the Indiana Manufacturers Association [5]. iVoterGuide lists contributions from Sen. Gary Byrne and state Republican Party organizations in 2026 [24]. No fundraising totals were verified.
What we could not find about Fluhr
- No issue positions on taxes, schools, health care or data centers were found.
- What he said at the Floyd County Republican debate was not reported in the sources found.
- No campaign finance reports were reviewed.
- No specific legislative plans were found on his campaign site or in news coverage.
Fluhr's campaign website
BT
Brandi Tibben
Libertarian
- Work
- Housing director at New Hope Services since 2025 [19]
Brandi Tibben is the Libertarian candidate for House District 70 and a housing director at New Hope Services, Inc., according to her BallotReady profile [15, 19]. No issue statements were found.
Tibben's background
- Her BallotReady candidate profile for this race lists her as housing director at New Hope Services, Inc. since 2025; earlier she was program director at the Homeless Coalition of Southern Indiana (2021–2025) and a PATH case manager at LifeSpring Health Systems (2019–2021) [19].
- Holds a 2019 bachelor's degree from Indiana University Southeast [19].
How Tibben got on the ballot
- Listed as the Libertarian candidate for District 70 on Harrison County's 2026 general-election candidate list [15]; Indiana Libertarian nominees are chosen at the party's convention rather than in the primary.
What we could not find about Tibben
- No campaign website, questionnaire responses or news coverage were found; her work history comes only from her BallotReady profile. iVoterGuide links two Facebook pages (BrandiFor70 and BrandisSoIN), which could not be reviewed for this profile.
- Date and details of her Libertarian convention nomination were not verified.
- No stated plans were found.
- No statements about the seat or the departing representative were found.
- No endorsements or fundraising figures were found.