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2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Indiana House, District 72

Indiana House of Representatives. 2-year term. Open seat: Ed Clere is not on the ballot.

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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 72 includes most of Floyd County, including New Albany [3, 8].
  • Open seat: Rep. Ed Clere, first elected in 2008 as a Republican, is not running after leaving the Republican Party to run for New Albany mayor as an independent in 2027 [4, 3].
  • May 5, 2026 Republican primary: Darrell Neeley 2,315 votes (54.2%), Shawn Carruthers 1,957 (45.8%); Democratic primary: Michele Henry 2,248 (52.2%), Cory Cochran 2,062 (47.8%), per Wikipedia's compilation [9]. Neeley and Henry won their primaries, according to Floyd County Clerk results [10].
  • Debates and forums: Neeley and Carruthers debated at a Floyd County Republican Party event before the primary [11]. iVoterGuide reports that Henry took part in a MADVoters Indiana panel on Sept. 5, 2026 [12]. No general-election debate between Neeley and Henry was found.
  • In an April 2026 LPM interview, all four primary candidates said they would have voted against the 2025 congressional redistricting bill [8].
  • Key differences: Henry emphasizes utility rates, data-center costs, affordable housing and concerns about school-voucher spending [8]; Neeley emphasizes stewardship of tax dollars, listening to residents and bringing state jobs and projects to Southern Indiana [11, 8].

Candidates on the ballot

Michele (Shelly) Henry

Democratic

Work
Employment attorney for about 25 years [8]

Michele Henry is an employment attorney of about 25 years and a Floyd County Democratic precinct chair [8]. She won the May 2026 Democratic primary with 52% [10, 9].

Henry's background

  • Employment attorney for about 25 years [8]; her campaign describes her as a trial attorney whose proudest wins were for "her partners in organized labor across Kentuckiana" [16].
  • Has served on the local and national boards of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and serves on the board of Waterfront Botanical Gardens [8].
  • First run for office; she said she decided to run because "our country is at a precipice" [8].

Henry's positions

Energy & utilities

  • Supports limiting utility companies' ability to "increase rates indiscriminately," calling energy "a fundamental human necessity" [8].

Data centers

  • Wants more research on data-center siting and wants their costs "entirely borne by the company," not offset by tax credits and sales-tax exemptions [8].

Housing

  • Says affordable housing is a real problem and that state business incentives should go toward housing that is affordable to residents below average income [8].

Education

  • Has raised concerns about spending on Indiana's Choice Scholarship (voucher) program, now open regardless of income [8].

Health care

  • Lists rising costs of health care, heating and food as her top everyday concerns [17].

Elections & redistricting

  • Said she would have voted against the 2025 redistricting bill, and that "I do not feel obligated to a national party to do the right thing for people in District 72" [8].

How Henry would run the office

  • Says the job "is a job for those folks in that district, and the job is to make decisions that help them live their best day-to-day life" [8].

Henry on the current officeholder

  • Said she wants a state legislature where "common sense prevails" [17]. No direct statements about Clere were found.

How Henry got on the ballot

  • Filed Feb. 12, 2026 with an endorsement from Nichole Jones, a former candidate for the seat [17]; won the May 5 Democratic primary over Cory Cochran, 2,248 votes to 2,062 [9].

Henry's endorsements and funding

  • Endorsed by former candidate Nichole Jones [17]. iVoterGuide lists endorsements from the Indiana AFL-CIO, IBEW Local 369 and Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates [12].

What we could not find about Henry

  • Her campaign website has little issue detail [16].
  • Early fundraising figures reported at her campaign launch could not be confirmed from freely available sources.
  • Her nickname is spelled "Shelly" on the ballot and "Shelley" in an LPM candidate list.
  • No campaign finance reports were reviewed.

Henry's campaign website

Sources for Henry

Darrell Neeley

Republican

Work
Associate minister at Howard Chapel Missionary Baptist Church; served 33 years in the U.S. Navy, leaving as a commander [8]

Darrell Neeley is a 33-year Navy veteran who left the service as a commander and is an associate minister at Howard Chapel Missionary Baptist Church [13, 8]. He won the May 2026 Republican primary with 54% [10, 9].

Neeley's background

  • Served 33 years in the U.S. Navy, starting in the enlisted ranks and leaving as a commander [13]; says he designed and oversaw $300 million budgets [11].
  • Associate minister at Howard Chapel Missionary Baptist Church and a district chaplain for the Veterans of Foreign Wars [8, 11].

Neeley's positions

Taxes & spending

  • Says the next representative should "keep in mind the people's wages" and be a good steward of tax money [11].

Economy & jobs

  • Says Southern Indiana must be included "in the discussions when it comes to the job opportunities, the state monies and projects" [11].

Housing

  • Says Floyd County, and New Albany especially, lacks affordable housing and asks what the state can do to encourage more [8].

Data centers

  • Says data centers should not be a burden on taxpayers, and praised Gov. Mike Braun's efforts to lower utility costs [8].

Elections & redistricting

  • Said he would have voted against the 2025 congressional redistricting bill, and that Indiana leaders should do what is right for Indiana [8].

How Neeley would run the office

  • Says he would listen to residents and "ensure that [people] have that voice, and they have somebody that listens" [8].

Neeley on the current officeholder

  • At a Republican debate he said the Floyd County districts need to earn respect at the Statehouse by bringing "true conservatism to the House" [11]. No direct statements about Clere were found.

How Neeley got on the ballot

  • Announced his candidacy by Feb. 2, 2026 [13]; won the May 5 Republican primary over former Floyd County commissioner Shawn Carruthers by 358 votes [9, 8].

Neeley's endorsements and funding

  • His campaign website quotes Floyd County Commissioner Jason Sharp in support [14]. iVoterGuide lists an NRA-PVF endorsement [15]. No fundraising totals were verified.

What we could not find about Neeley

  • His campaign website lists no specific issue positions [14]; no questionnaire answers were found.
  • Other local endorsements announced with his candidacy could not be confirmed from freely available sources.
  • No campaign finance reports were reviewed.

Neeley's campaign website

Sources for Neeley

Key points

  • House District 72 includes most of Floyd County, including New Albany. (Louisville Public Media)
  • Open seat: Rep. Ed Clere, first elected in 2008 as a Republican, is not running after leaving the Republican Party to run for New Albany mayor as an independent in 2027. (News and Tribune)
  • Key differences: Henry emphasizes utility rates, data-center costs, affordable housing and concerns about school-voucher spending; Neeley emphasizes stewardship of tax dollars, listening to residents and bringing state jobs and projects to Southern Indiana. (Louisville Public Media)

Sources

Researched Saturday, October 10, 2026

  1. Indiana House of Representatives (Wikipedia)
  2. 2026 General Election Candidate List (Indiana Election Division)
  3. Indiana Republicans break with longtime state Rep. Clere, who plans to go independent (Louisville Public Media)
  4. Clere won't seek re-election to Indiana Statehouse; to run as independent for New Albany mayor (News and Tribune)
  5. Candidates for Indiana House District 72 talk priorities (Louisville Public Media)
  6. 2026 Indiana House of Representatives election (Wikipedia)
  7. Neeley, Henry to face off in November general election (News and Tribune)
  8. Republican candidates outline commitments for Indiana House District 72 race (Louisville Public Media (via IPM))
  9. Michele (Shelly) Henry: State Representative, District 72 (iVoterGuide)
  10. Neeley announces candidacy for District 72 state representative (News and Tribune)
  11. Darrell Neeley for Indiana (Darrell Neeley campaign)
  12. Darrell Neeley: State Representative, District 72 (iVoterGuide)
  13. Michele Henry for Indiana House District 72 (Michele Henry campaign)
  14. Henry announces campaign for Indiana House District 72 (News and Tribune)
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.