Indiana Democratic chairman fails in state Senate bid

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Bloomington-area voters overwhelmingly picked a former congressional candidate over the Indiana Democratic Party chairman for a state Senate seat nomination.

Unofficial returns released from Tuesday's primary election show Shelli Yoder received 80% of the vote in the three-candidate Democratic primary that included state party Chairman John Zody.

Yoder is former Monroe County Council member who was the party's 9th Congressional District nominee in 2012 and 2016 but lost competitive races both times.

Republicans don't yet have a candidate for the heavily Democratic state Senate district that includes Bloomington and most of Monroe County.

Yoder is seeking to replace Democratic Sen. Mark Stoops of Bloomington, who decided to not seek election to a third term.

Zody has been the state party chairman for the past seven years, a time during which Democrats haven't won any statewide races or broken the supermajority holds that Republicans have in the Indiana House and Senate.