Supporters of Republican State Senator Jim Tomes are filing into his spring campaign kickoff celebration in Vanderburgh County’s west side.
“The price of admission is you gotta wear a name tag,” said Volunteer Susan Harrison, filling in a name and attaching it to their shirt.
The 49th district includes all of Posey County and parts of Vanderburgh County. Each senate district represents around 130,000 constituents. Bob Dieg was the last Democrat. He was elected in 2006.
Tomes is a four-term senator, combat veteran and retired truck driver who prides himself on accessibility and problem-solving for residents.
“I take all my calls, all my emails, all my handwritten letters, and respond to everyone personally, and it's out there,” he said. “That's why I get calls all up and down the state, beyond my district, and even calls from other states.”
In 2026 he has a challenger in Democrat Cindi Clayton, who works at the University of Southern Indiana (USI). She’s running because of what she’s hearing from her college students.
“I'm aware of the way that young people are starting their lives now is not as well supported as when I was their age, and so they're not getting the same opportunities in the state of Indiana, and we can't afford to lose the talent of the future.”
If elected, she said her first priorities would be fully funding public education, and stopping elected officials from signing non-disclosure agreements.
She’d like to see income caps return to school vouchers. She’s a board chair of the child and adult victim advocacy center Holly’s House with 20 years at USI.
“… So I can take my skill set and work with people on both sides of the aisle in Indianapolis, for the local residents, who quite often are not heard, including when we resoundingly said ‘no’ on redistricting, we weren't listened to, and that is unacceptable …”
Sen. Tomes did vote "yes" for redistricting the state, which would have benefitted Republicans but ultimately failed.
“People was telling me, ‘You need to listen to your constituents,’” Tomes said. “Okay, my question to them was, ‘which constituents are you want me to listen to? The ones that want me to vote for, the ones that don't want me to vote for it?’ I (can’t) get an answer to that question.”
Tomes said he has a bevy of policy priorities if elected. One example — setting aside two days of the youth hunting season specifically for handicapped children.
“I've got probably six or seven bills right now that I would do, possibly,” he said. “Priorities are still to get something done on these utility bills. That's got to happen, and you might know that I did talk with the CEO of CenterPoint on this thing. He came all the way from Houston to meet with us.”
Tomes is proud of his work on the 2018 legalization of hemp oil. In 2026 he has several bills — a few currently marked “inactive” on the website. One is “Protecting children from family violence.”
He was the second author of successfully-passed Senate Bill 164 — initiating a study of community or urban microfarming. And again, he’s proud of his access to constituents.
“People come to my house, I meet them at the coffee shop, and this job is full time for me …”
Indiana Senators and representatives are technically part-time, making just over $30,000 annually.
Clayton said she’d maintain access to residents with weekly office hours and answer her own emails and attend neighborhood meetings out of session.
“I'm running to represent only the constituents of district 49 — not federal administration, not a corporate sponsor, just just the people here in district 49.”
When asked how their party will affect how they vote and legislate both basically said they’d follow their values — not necessarily their party.
Both candidates will appear on ballots in the district for the November third general election.
Jim Tomes campaign website
Cindi Clayton campaign website
