Voters in Indiana House District 39 will choose between two candidates this November to represent them in the Indiana House of Representatives. The district includes portions of Carmel and Westfield.
Incumbent Rep. Daniel Lopez (R) was elected to the Indiana House after winning the 2024 election. He currently serves on the Judiciary and Ways and Means committees.
Lopez is being challenged by Democrat Lindsay Gramlich. The candidates have diametrically opposed views on education, with Lopez favoring school choice and Gramlich wants to eliminate the school voucher system to better fund public schools.
There are 100 members of the Indiana House of Representatives. Their job is to work alongside the governor and the Indiana State Senate to create laws and set the state budget. Their seats go up for election every two years, and in Indiana there is no limit on the number of terms a representative can serve.
WFYI opened an ongoing voter survey in May, and the most common voting issues were data center policy, affordability, and feeling disempowered.
WFYI contacted each campaign and sent a survey based on voter questions — it asked candidates for their top priorities and their positions on education, affordability and civic health. For candidates who did not respond, we gathered information on their top priorities from their websites and social media. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order.
Lindsay Gramlich
Personal information provided by candidate.
Party: Democrat
Website: lindsaygramlich.com
Age: 39
Occupation: President & CEO of Girls Inc. of Greater Indianapolis
Residence: Carmel
Top donors (via Transparency USA):
- ActBlue Indiana
- Unitemized Contributions
- Anotherwrld
- Hamilton County Democratic Party
- Ed DeLaney
Gramlich accepted WFYI's invitation to take a survey. WFYI fact checked statements about publicly available data.
If elected, what are your top policy priorities?
My top priorities are to lower utility and childcare costs, fully fund our public schools, and be responsive to our community. For too long, our state legislature has passed legislation that does not benefit all Hoosiers, prioritizing tax breaks to data centers and the needs of their big donors. As the CEO of a local nonprofit, I have seen state budget cuts hurt the communities I serve. As a mother of three, I am worried about the future of the public schools my kids attend and understand the struggle to pay for childcare. We need a representative who knows the day-to-day concerns that people in this district face and is ready to legislate for them. I am prepared to be that representative.
Many voters told us they struggle to afford food, housing and healthcare. If elected, how would you help them address those needs?
The cost of living in this district is simply too high. From gas, to groceries, to utilities, to childcare, families have consistently seen their costs go up. The state legislature has not done enough to give people relief. As state representative, I will work to fix the problems caused by the SEA 1 legislation, which has systematically defunded our local police, fire, and public schools while doing little to actually deliver tax relief for those who need it. We also need to ensure our state puts the necessary investment into Medicare and Medicaid, and builds new childcare centers to address the gap in supply. I also believe it is vitally important to regulate increases in utility rates and ensure data centers are not allowed to increase our water and electricity costs. As a union-endorsed candidate, I support strengthened union and collective bargaining protections to allow workers to negotiate higher pay, and I support strengthened worker protections and benefits.
Many voters told us they don't think today's politicians listen to their constituents. Why do you think that is, and how would you address the concern?
Too many politicians don't actually reflect the average person in their district, and are not tuned in with the everyday needs of their constituents. I've felt this too, and it's a big part of why I am running. I am a working mom of three, a lifelong Hoosier, and a neighbor. My parents are retired public school principals, and the nonprofit I lead serves local women and girls in need. Public service is in my blood. In the legislature, I will always bring experts and community members to the table for important decisions. The thoughts and opinions of the people I serve are incredibly important to me, and I will serve the people of House District 39 the same way.
You've identified problems around education in your campaign. What are the key barriers students and educators face right now, and what policies would you propose to address them?
The biggest barrier facing students and educators right now is the systematic defunding of our public school system. The state legislature has cut millions of dollars in funding per year to our public schools here in Carmel and Westfield and refuses to raise teacher pay, forcing teachers to effectively take pay cuts as inflation and the cost of living increase. When our teachers aren't supported, our kids don't have the resources and guidance they need to succeed in the classroom. Meanwhile, private schools in this district receive millions in taxpayer voucher dollars even though an overwhelming majority (over 90%) of Carmel and Westfield families send their kids to public schools. It is a top priority of mine to reverse state budget cuts to public education and increase teacher pay.
Danny Lopez
Personal information provided by candidate.
Incumbent
Party: Republican
Website: lopezforindiana.com
Age: 46
Occupation: Indiana State Representative, District 39; CEO, Vincam Public Relations
Residence: Carmel
Top donors (via Transparency USA):
- Herbert Simon
- House Republican Campaign Committee
- Hermpire LLC
- Paul Thrift
- Robert Bush
Lopez accepted WFYI's invitation to take a survey. WFYI fact checked statements about publicly available data.
If elected, what are your top policy priorities?
Responsible budgeting and tax reform and government modernization, public safety, mental health support, funding and reform around healthcare and Medicaid
The accessibility of quality housing is a pain point for folks across age brackets and socioeconomic levels, with the average age of first-time home buyers now hitting 40 years old. In my two years in the Legislature, I have worked on or supported various pieces of legislation aimed at lowering overly burdensome regulations that unnecessarily increase cost-to-build, while still preserving critical local control elements that make the communities I represent unique.
Many voters told us they struggle to afford food, housing and healthcare. If elected, how would you help them address those needs?
On the healthcare side, I carried SB 275 through the House last year. This legislation aimed at creating greater transparency and accountability around Medicaid providers for services like in-home care, with the goal being to bring down the overall cost of care in the system. I've also supported legislation to expand and incentivize direct-to-employer healthcare models, which are already bringing down costs for both employers and their employees and improving health outcomes.
Many voters told us they don't think today's politicians listen to their constituents. Why do you think that is, and how would you address the concern?
Our political environment has certainly become increasingly divided, with more and more voters claiming that the political parties no longer represent their views. I don't subscribe to litmus tests, something that has served me extremely well both politically and in delivering transparent and solutions-oriented representations for the folks in my district. I am a product of both the Daniels and Holcomb Administrations, having served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Holcomb. As such, my approach and philosophy has always been to be incredibly accessible, straightforward and honest, and focused on working with my colleagues - in both political parties - to find ways to advance the interests of those communities I represent. My constituents are wary of twitter warriors and attention-seekers, and instead reward those of us who keep our heads down and do the hard work to make our state and our cities better and stronger, safer, more vibrant, and more prosperous.
You've identified problems around education in your campaign. What are the key barriers students and educators face right now, and what policies would you propose to address them?
As has been the case for years, we continue to struggle to ensure more dollars actually reach the classroom and the teachers serving our children. Despite legislative efforts to push more tuition support to classroom instruction as well as to eliminate thousands of pages of burdensome regulatory language from state code, all of which I have supported, too many dollars across the state continue to be tied up in administration or other costs not directly associated with improving the educational attainment of our students. In Carmel and Westfield, we are fortunate to have two of the best school districts in the state, and it is critical that we continue to find ways to direct more dollars to efforts that directly impact student academic success.
Additionally, Indiana has done a masterful job of refocusing on the science of reading and, as a result, we have seen our outcomes and rankings skyrocket. This is thanks to the commitment and hard work of our teachers, our administrators, and our parents, and it is a clear demonstration that we have the ability to move stubborn outcome statistics when we focus on them in an intentional way. The same approach must be taken on numeracy. We are, after all, an advanced manufacturing state, and it is critical to our economic future that we do everything possible to address stubbornly low numeracy outcomes.
