Houchin announces bid for congressional seat

District 47 State Senator Erin Houchin announced she will run for District 9 U.S. representative seat.

Houchin represents Ferdinand, Marion, Jefferson, Jackson, Harbison, Hall and Columbia townships in Dubois County as well as all of Crawford, Orange, Perry, Harrison and Washington counties as state senator. She was elected in 2014.

If Houchin is elected to the U.S. Congress next year, the Republican party will have to appoint another person to finish her term on the state senate.

“In the last six years, the Obama presidency has put conservatism on the defensive and I want to change that. It is time conservative principles started winning again,” Houchin wrote in the announcement on her campaign website. “The times demand that we send a new generation of conservative leaders to Washington who will stand up for our values and fight back against the liberal, Obama agenda.”

The District 9 U.S. representative seat is currently held by Republican Todd Young. He recently announced he will run for U.S. Senate in 2015. Young is one of four candidates running for the District 9 seat being vacated by Dan Coats. Those include Rep. Marlin Stutzman, Eric Holcomb and Democrat Baron Hill.