Indiana State Sen.-elect Cyndi Carrasco speaks to reporters after a GOP caucus Wednesday at The Atrium Banquet & Conference Center in Indianapolis.
Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
INDIANAPOLIS — A former Marion County prosecutor candidate was chosen to replace the late Sen. Jack Sandlin during a Republican Party caucus Wednesday.
Fifty-three precinct committeemen from Marion and Johnson counties selected Cyndi Carrasco for the vacant State Senate District 36 seat Wednesday night. Carrasco was chosen over former State Rep. John Jacob, who received five total votes for the seat. A total of 68 precinct committeemen were eligible to take part, but only 58 voted during the Indiana GOP’s caucus at The Atrium Banquet & Conference Center on the southside of Indianapolis.
State Senate District 36 covers areas of northwestern Pleasant and northeastern White River Township in Johnson County and a majority of Perry Township in Marion County. The seat was formerly held by Jack Sandlin, a longtime public servant who died suddenly on Sept. 20 at the age of 72.
Carrasco will serve the remainder of the seat’s term, which ends next year. She also plans to run for a full term next year.
The Indianapolis resident was surprised by her overwhelming victory Wednesday evening.
“I am speechless. I have to thank each and every one of you today,” she said in her victory speech. She also thanked Jacob, her opponent.
She later promised she would not let anyone down. She also thanked Lydia Sandlin, Jack Sandlin’s window, for her support.
“I know that Jack would be looking down and smiling,” Carrasco said.
Carrasco currently serves as vice president and general counsel at the University of Indianapolis, also overseeing the UIndy Police Department. She ran last year for Marion County Prosecutor, losing to Democrat Ryan Mears.
She was also previously the executive director of the Indiana State Ethics Commission and was Indiana’s first female inspector general.
Carrasco told precinct committeemen that she was a friend of Sandlin’s and described him as one of her first and biggest supporters when she ran for prosecutor. She said she would try her best to carry on his legacy in the State Senate.
“I will keep his legacy at heart,” Carrasco said. “But I will legislate on my own two feet and be your representative in the Indiana Statehouse and in the community.”
In terms of policy, Carrasco said public safety is one of her top priorities. She will always support law enforcement and their mission to keep families safe and hold criminals accountable, she said.
“I will always have their backs in the [Indiana] General Assembly,” Carrasco said.
She’ll also work to keep taxes low, ensure the state spends within its means, support small businesses and see that the education system “works for all Hoosier children with transparency and parental involvement along the way.”
“I will be an unwavering conservative voice for Marion and Johnson Counties in the State Senate,” she said in a news release. “I look forward to serving the Hoosiers I’m blessed to represent.”
Though she is a Marion County resident, she has spent a lot of time in Johnson County. Carrasco, her husband Robert and their daughter Sarah attend church at Saints Francis & Clare of Assisi in Greenwood.
“I live on the southern edge of Marion County, literally on County Line,” Carrasco told reporters following the caucus. “So all my life is both in Perry Township but also Johnson County.”
Carrasco is excited about the opportunity to develop relationships with people in Johnson County similar to how she did in Marion County during their prosecutor’s race, she said.
“I’m willing to work hard for it, and I’m excited about the conversations that are to happen,” she said.
A swearing-in for Carrasco will take place at a later date, likely around Nov. 1.
During the caucus, Jacob told precinct committeemen he decided to step back into the political arena because he was concerned about where the country was heading. He said while the state has a Republican supermajority, many times lawmakers just “go along to get along, and as a result, we the people suffer.”
“We continue to get weak legislation, and we all see that the left continues to advance their agenda dragging us into their black abyss,” Jacob said.
He heavily leaned on his faith and legislative experience for his pitch. He said Republican leadership used ideas he proposed in their own bills, including permit-less carry, defunding an Indiana University gender research institute and bans on transgender girls playing girls sports and gender transitions for minors.
