Yoder returning to Indiana senate for second term



Angelle Barbazon

abarbazon@etruth.com

ELKHART — The results are in, and Republican Carlin Yoder will be returning to the Indiana Senate from District 12 for another four years.

Yoder, who celebrated his victory in Elkhart, gained enough support from voters Tuesday to hang on to his seat for a second term in office.

He beat out Democratic opponent Jim Ball in the race for District 12, which covers a large part of Elkhart County and a small section of northeast Kosciusko County.

Yoder garnered 27,971 votes, and Ball came up short with 12,860 votes in the district. In Elkhart County, Yoder had roughly 68 percent of the votes while Ball had almost 32 percent.

Yoder said his first term in office was productive, and he hopes to to bring more jobs to Indiana.

“We need to continue to find a way to get Hoosiers back to work,” Yoder said Tuesday night after the poll results rolled in.

The two candidates were divided on a few issues, but one that stood out was their conflicting stances on Indiana’s right-to-work legislation.

Yoder was the lead sponsor for the labor provision that makes union dues optional for workers in union jobs.

On the other side of the spectrum, Ball made it a point in his campaign to oppose the legislation, saying that it would hurt unions in the end.

Yoder said voters responded positively to his views on union fees, citing his stance as one of the reasons he led the race.