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2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Indiana House, District 9

Indiana House of Representatives. 2-year term.

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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 9 covers Michigan City, northern LaPorte County and portions of eastern Porter County, according to the House Democratic Caucus [11].
  • The official candidate list does not mark either candidate as an incumbent, but Novak has held the seat by caucus appointment since October 2025 after Rep. Pat Boy retired; this is his first election to the seat [2, 3].
  • Both candidates were unopposed in their May 5, 2026 primaries; in the LaPorte County portion of the district, Novak received 2,619 Democratic votes and Chris Cleveland 1,386 Republican votes [12].
  • At a La Porte County League of Women Voters forum on March 26, 2026, at Michigan City City Hall, Novak attended and Cleveland did not [13]. No general-election debate was found as of October 10, 2026.
  • Both candidates have criticized NIPSCO: Novak has called for public hearings and utility legislation after the August 2026 storm outages, while Cleveland's campaign calls for auditing utilities [9, 14].

Candidates on the ballot

Chris Cleveland

Republican

Work
Founder and CEO of the software companies RelevantDB and Dieselpoint [15]

Chris Cleveland, a Republican software entrepreneur, says on his campaign site he previously chaired the Chicago Republican Party; he is running on cutting the cost of government, auditing utilities and health-care price transparency [14, 15].

Cleveland's background

  • Founder and CEO of software companies RelevantDB (2021–present) and Dieselpoint, Inc. (1999–present), according to his BallotReady profile [15].
  • Holds a bachelor's degree in politics from Princeton University (1984) and an MBA from the University of Chicago (1990); was a legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. Fred Eckert (1984–1986) [15].
  • His campaign site says he was elected chairman of the Chicago Republican Party and pursued legal cases against Chicago officials and the Board of Elections, including a redistricting case [14].

Cleveland's positions

Taxes & government spending

  • Under the heading "Reduce the Cost of Government," says "This legislature has passed a municipal local income tax, wheel tax, tolls on the interstates, and a restaurant tax" and "Enough is enough" [15].

Energy & utilities

  • Says "Utilities like NIPSCO are monopolies, and when they raise prices, there's nothing you can do about it," and that they "need to be audited and gotten under control" [15].

Health care

  • Says "Hospitals and insurance companies conspire to keep prices secret so you pay more" and "I will lower the cost of healthcare by forcing them to publish prices and stick to them" [15].

Education

  • Says "I will support legislation to give you full visibility into what they're teaching your kid," and supports giving parents more power to change curriculum [15, 14].

How Cleveland would run the office

  • Would require hospitals and insurers to publish and honor prices, and seek audits of utilities such as NIPSCO [14].

Cleveland on the current officeholder

  • His campaign site does not name Rep. Novak; it criticizes the legislature generally for recent tax measures [14].

How Cleveland got on the ballot

  • Was unopposed in the May 5, 2026 Republican primary, receiving 1,386 votes in LaPorte County [12].

Cleveland's endorsements and funding

  • His campaign site lists no endorsements [14].

What we could not find about Cleveland

  • The Indiana Capital Chronicle's voter guide entry for him could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • When he moved to LaPorte County and where he lives was not confirmed from a read source.
  • Did not attend the March 2026 League of Women Voters forum; no news coverage of his campaign was found.
  • No campaign-finance reports were reviewed.

Cleveland's campaign website

Sources for Cleveland

Randy Novak

DemocraticIncumbent (who says so)

The state candidate list names Patricia Boy as this seat's incumbent; the Indiana General Assembly's 2026 roster lists Rep. Randy Novak for House District 9.

Work
Licensed real estate broker since 1998; retired Michigan City fire chief [11]

Randy Novak, a Democrat, former Michigan City fire chief and former LaPorte County Council president, was appointed to the seat in October 2025 and is seeking a full term [3, 11].

Novak's background

  • Career with the Michigan City Fire Department, where he became chief; licensed real estate broker since 1998 [11]. Wikipedia says he was appointed fire chief in 2015 and retired in 2020 [16].
  • Former LaPorte County Council president; former chairman of the LaPorte County Fire Chiefs Association; former president of the LaPorte County Redevelopment Commission and of Michigan City Firefighters Local #475; served on the Michiana Shores Town Council (1991–1996) [11].
  • Previously served on the General Assembly's Pension Management Oversight Commission [3, 5].
  • Lives in Michigan City [11].

Novak's positions

Energy & utilities

  • After the August 2026 storm outages, said "the General Assembly needs to prioritize legislation regulating utilities" and called for public hearings, arguing "a revolving door is not going to solve our problems with utility companies" [9].
  • In September 2026 urged the Indiana attorney general to challenge a federal order keeping coal plants open, citing NIPSCO's request to recover $38 million from ratepayers for the Schahfer plant, and said "These new deregulation pushes are ludicrous" [10].

Elections & redistricting

  • Opposed the 2025 mid-decade congressional redistricting effort and voted against HB 1032 [16, 6].

Taxes & government spending

  • On being sworn in, pledged to provide "the highest level of service at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers" [3].

How Novak would run the office

  • Wants the legislature to take up utility-regulation legislation and hold public hearings in Northwest Indiana on NIPSCO's storm response [9, 8].

Novak on the current officeholder

  • Is the current officeholder (appointed October 2025). No statements by Novak about his challenger were found.

How Novak got on the ballot

  • Was unopposed in the May 5, 2026 Democratic primary, receiving 2,619 votes in LaPorte County [12].

Novak's endorsements and funding

  • Was endorsed by Rep. Pat Boy as her successor in 2025 [5].

What we could not find about Novak

  • No campaign website was found; no 2026 committee assignments were listed on his caucus page.
  • No bills he authored that became law were identified; his 2026 resolutions were not reviewed.
  • His answers at the March 2026 League of Women Voters forum, including on data centers, could not be confirmed from freely available sources.
  • No campaign-finance reports were reviewed.

Novak's record in office

Indiana House record, District 9 (2025-2026) · compiled from the official record, Oct. 12-13, 2026

Authored
5
1 became law
Co-authored
1
0 became law
Co-sponsored
4
4 became law

Committees, 2026 session

  • Environmental Affairs
  • Natural Resources
  • Agriculture and Natural Resources, Interim Study Committee on (House Minority Member)
  • Environmental Affairs, Interim Study Committee on (House Minority Member)

Floor votes

  • 2026: Yes 324, No 52, Not voting 1
How Novak voted on 18 selected bills
The 10 bills Novak carried

  • HB 1048: VFD clothing and automobile allowances.

    2026 · Authored · enacted: signed by the Governor

    Increases, from $100 to $250, the clothing and automobile allowance for an active member of a volunteer fire department (department).

  • HB 1162: Medicaid waiver direct care staff compensation.

    2026 · Authored · not reported from House committee

    Sets forth requirements for a home and community based services attendant care service Medicaid provider to meet in the use of the state fund share of Medicaid reimbursement for compensation of direct care staff.

  • HB 1189: Labor requirements for data center incentives.

    2026 · Authored · not reported from House committee

    Requires that an agreement between a qualified data center user or quantum computing research, advanced computing, and defense infrastructure network operator and the Indiana economic development corporation for a specific transaction award certificate includes a requirement that the user or operator limit bids or requests for proposals for the project to labor unions or employers that have projec

  • HB 1190: Line of duty disability from PFAS exposure.

    2026 · Authored · not reported from House committee

    Provides that a health condition that is caused by a PFAS chemical creates a presumption of disability in the line of duty with respect to firefighters under certain circumstances.

  • HB 1244: Tax increment financing.

    2026 · Authored · not reported from House committee

    Provides that 10% of the excess property tax proceeds collected in an allocation area must be allocated among school corporations, libraries, and taxing units that provide police services, fire protection, emergency medical service, or public safety services in the allocation area.

  • HB 1060: Emergency medical services.

    2026 · Co-authored · not reported from House committee

    Exempts state educational institution degree programs primarily focused on emergency medical services from a certain elimination provision.

  • SB 148: Indiana crime guns task force.

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

    Beginning July 1, 2027, adds LaPorte County and Porter County to the task force area of the Indiana crime guns task force (task force), and specifies the number required for a quorum and to take official action in the event of a tie vote.

  • 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.

  • SB 56: Veterinary licensing.

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

    Provides that the board of veterinary medicine may issue a license or registration to a qualified applicant without an examination if the qualified applicant: (1) satisfies the requirements for reciprocity of health care professionals; and (2) otherwise meets the requirements to become a licensed veterinarian or a registered veterinary technician.

  • SB 89: Three-way permits.

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

    Provides the alcohol and tobacco commission may issue not more than: (1) three new three-way permits to the town of Schererville; (2) three new three-way permits to the city of Lafayette; (3) two new three-way permits to the city of West Lafayette; (4) eight new three-way permits to restaurants located within a transit development district located in the city of Michigan City; (5) two new three-wa

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 Novak's record came from

Sources for Novak

Key points

  • House District 9 covers Michigan City, northern LaPorte County and portions of eastern Porter County, according to the House Democratic Caucus. (Indiana House Democratic Caucus)
  • Both candidates were unopposed in their May 5, 2026 primaries; in the LaPorte County portion of the district, Novak received 2,619 Democratic votes and Chris Cleveland 1,386 Republican votes. (LaPorte County, Indiana)
  • At a La Porte County League of Women Voters forum on March 26, 2026, at Michigan City City Hall, Novak attended and Cleveland did not. No general-election debate was found as of October 10, 2026. (La Porte County Herald-Dispatch)

Sources

Researched Saturday, October 10, 2026

  1. Indiana House of Representatives (Wikipedia)
  2. 2026 General Election Candidate List (Indiana Election Division)
  3. Novak sworn in as Indiana State Representative for District 9 (Indiana House Democratic Caucus)
  4. Indiana Democratic Party Thanks Rep. Pat Boy, Prepares Call to Caucus for Replacement in Office (Indiana Democratic Party)
  5. Legislator Detail: Randy Novak (vote record) (BillTrack50)
  6. Northwest Indiana lawmakers call for legislative investigation into NIPSCO's storm response (Indiana House Democratic Caucus)
  7. Novak calls for public hearings, legislative action on utility regulation (Indiana House Democratic Caucus)
  8. Novak calls for closure of expensive coal plants, condemns deregulation push (Indiana House Democratic Caucus)
  9. State Rep. Randy Novak (Indiana House Democratic Caucus)
  10. 2026 Primary Election Summary Report (LaPorte County, Indiana)
  11. State Senate, House hopefuls discuss data center regulations (La Porte County Herald-Dispatch)
  12. Chris Cleveland for State Representative (Cleveland for Indiana (campaign))
  13. Chris Cleveland (BallotReady)
  14. Randy Novak (Wikipedia)
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.