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Indiana Republicans Take Governor's Mansion, Senate

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb
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Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb

Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb won the Indiana governor's race, extending his party's 12-year hold on the state's top office.

Holcomb was little known around the state when he became the Republican candidate in July after Gov. Mike Pence was picked as Donald Trump's running mate.

Democrat John Gregg's campaign aimed to link Holcomb to controversies during Pence's term such as Indiana's 2015 religious-objections law that sparked a national uproar from gay-rights supporters. Holcomb touted the state's improved fiscal condition under Republican governors, but largely avoided mentioning Pence's name.

Holcomb, who has never been elected to public office, is a former state Republican chairman and was appointed lieutenant governor in March.

Bayh Falls to Young

Indiana Republican Rep. Todd Young has defeated former Sen. Evan Bayh in a Senate race that could be crucial to determining party control. The seat is now held by Republican Sen. Dan Coats, who is retiring.

An onslaught of stories about whether Bayh really lived in Indiana and his extended job search in his final year in office undercut his candidacy.

National groups have poured tens of millions of dollars into the Senate race, one of a half dozen nationally that could determine whether Democrats take over the Senate majority.

Young, a three-term congressman from southern Indiana, doesn't have the name recognition of Bayh, whose father, Birch Bayh, was a senator for 18 years. But Young ran a strong race and was supported by outside groups.

Hollingsworth Wins House Race

Republican Trey Hollingsworth has won election in southern Indiana's 9th Congressional District, overcoming campaign attacks labeling him a carpetbagger from Tennessee who used his family's fortune to buy the seat.

Hollingsworth spent more than $2.5 million of his own money and a political group funded by his father pumped in about $1 million more to win the seat Republican Rep. Todd Young gave up to run for U.S. Senate.

Democratic candidate Shelli Yoder got support from national Democratic groups as she criticized Hollingsworth for running for Congress after just moving to Indiana last year. Hollingsworth overcame similar attacks during the Republican primary, winning a five-candidate race with about a third of the vote.

Hollingsworth's television commercial-heavy campaign presented him as a political outsider with business experience.