State senator announces bid for Indiana congressional seat

SALEM, Ind. (AP) – A first-term state senator says she’ll be a candidate for the southern Indiana congressional seat that Republican Rep. Todd Young is giving up to run for the U.S. Senate next year.

Republican state Sen. Erin Houchin of Salem announced Wednesday her entry into the race for the Ninth District seat that runs from Ohio River counties near Louisville, Kentucky, to the southern suburbs of Indianapolis.

Houchin has served one year in the General Assembly after defeating longtime Democratic Sen. Richard Young in the 2014 election. She is a former regional director to retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Coats and previously was a state child welfare case manager.

State Attorney General Greg Zoeller has filed paperwork to create a fundraising committee for the congressional seat, but hasn’t announced a candidacy.