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Informed Voting

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Informed Voting
Informed Voting and a Brief Overview of Indiana’s
Congressional Representation
Jonathan Jones
Liberty University

Informed Voting and a Brief Overview of Indiana’s
Congressional Representation
It is the duty of the American people to play an active role in determining who represents their best interests in Congress. Stephen Witham, in his presentation titled, Becoming an Informed Voter, says the following in regards to the American peoples’ responsibility to not only vote, but to do so intelligently, “We, as voters, are supposed to focus primarily on electing Congress…I challenge the students to think about voting for an individual based on the way they vote to represent you in Congress.” In response to the aforesaid …show more content…
According to Govtrack.us, seven out of the nine Indiana congressional districts are represented by Republican House delegates; district 3 being among those represented by a Republican. The 3rd congressional district has maintained Republican Party House representation for the past 11 years; 2003 being the last year a Democrat held the position. In recent years, Republicans have largely maintained Indiana’s U.S. Senate seats. However, due to a flurry of events that diminished the Republican Party’s appeal, Joe Donnelly, a Democrat, was elected as Indiana’s Junior U.S. Senator in 2013. Regardless of the latest senator-voting outcome, historical evidence shows that the Republican Party significantly dominates the state of Indiana as far as elections are …show more content…
Stutzman remained with the Indiana House of Representatives until 2008, and thereafter served in the Indiana State Senate from 2008 to 2010. In 2010, Stutzman ran for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by incumbent Evan Bayh, however, he lost to former U.S. Senator Dan Cotes in the primary. This loss lead to Stutzman running for the Indiana 3rd District, U.S. House of Representatives seat after incumbent Representative Mark Souder resigned after admitting to an affair. Stutzman was chosen to replace Souder by a delegation of Republicans from the Indiana’s 3rd district, a win that Stutzman secured decisively. More recently, Stutzman was re-elected as Indiana 3rd District Representative in 2012 after categorically defeating his Democratic opponent, Kevin Boyd, 67% -
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