For the first time in over two decades, Bloomington’s state representative will face a primary challenger.
State Rep. Matt Pierce, who represents District 61 in the Indiana Statehouse, has held the seat since 2002. But this election cycle, he faces a Democratic primary challenger, Lilliana Young.
The Indiana Daily Student spoke with each candidate about key issues in their campaigns. Here’s what they said:
Matt Pierce
Pierce, the incumbent, is the assistant Democratic House floor leader and a senior lecturer at the Media School at Indiana University. He previously was chief of staff for former U.S. Rep. Baron Hill and has served on Bloomington’s City Council.
Pierce said he decided to run again because he thinks he’s still effective at representing the district and understands how the legislature works. One example, he said, was when he spoke to the House public health committee chair against a transgender bathroom bill which later ended up dying in committee.
“I think every little kind of push, and behind-the-scenes discussion that you can do is helpful because that can help maybe stop bad legislation from becoming law,” Pierce said.
He thinks affordability is the biggest issue Hoosiers face. He specifically cited state funding cuts for childcare grants, which he said can give parents trouble finding affordable childcare.
Pierce’s main goal going into the next legislative session, if re-elected, is to focus on what he says are “basic issues”: affordability within childcare, healthcare and college.
Republicans in the Indiana Statehouse currently outnumber Democrats 70 to 30. So, for the last decade, Pierce said he’s been playing defense.
“My number one job in this current atmosphere is to really make sure that the voices of Bloomington constituents are heard at the Statehouse and really push back on those kinds of things,” Pierce said.
Pierce’s proudest legislative accomplishment during his time in office, he said, was a criminal code reform bill he coauthored in 2013. The bill made changes intended to move away from mass incarceration and “toward treating drug use as a substance use disorder needing treatment rather than just a criminal violation needing punishment,” Pierce said.
Pierce authored one bill this most recent legislative session allowing physician-assisted death in some cases, which he said he has introduced for a number of years after hearing about it from his constituents.
Pierce said he typically avoids introducing bills so they don’t get stuck in committee. He instead offers the language as an amendment during a different bill’s second reading, which forces the whole House to vote on or debate it.
He said he knows many Democrats are frustrated that there aren’t enough blue votes in the legislature to adopt democratic policies.
“What I want my constituents to know is that I still have the energy and desire to keep fighting for them,” Pierce said.
Lilliana Young
Young, a decade-long Bloomington resident from Texas, serves on the Bloomington/Monroe County Human Rights Commission and helped pass a resolution in 2024 that declared Bloomington a “safe haven” for gender-affirming healthcare.
She also founded The Sisterhood, a mutual aid and community hub which advocates for Bloomington’s transgender women.
Young decided to run, she said, because she was “sick to death” of the status quo. She once thought Indiana was supposed to be an affordable state but doesn’t see it like that anymore.
For her, low minimum wage, cuts to Medicaid and state corruption are some of the biggest problems Hoosiers face today.
She referenced Indiana Gov. Mike Braun’s $118,000 worth of home security improvements to his Jasper, Indiana, residence, which was covered by the Indiana Department of Administration. The improvements included a helipad and a security trailer.
“These are very blatantly corrupt people, and I do believe that they’ve made enough egregious oversteps that they can be impeached,” Young said.
The main goal of her campaign, Young said, is to shake things up. She believes people need to vote out the Republicans who have been helming the state.
“I also think that making real changes that can benefit people is also going to be replacing some of the long-standing Democrats,” Young said. “Not necessarily because they hold any particular grievance, but we need fresher faces with different perspectives.”
To combat a Republican supermajority, she said, Democrats should organize into an “active obstruction” party. She said there are ways to slow parts of the legislative process down to help kill harmful bills before they get through.
Young said she could do this by filing amendments that force discussion or votes that can slow legislative hearings down. She also said Democrats could do better at consistently reaching out to the community for public testimony.
“Turning every single bill into a multi-hour circus of people coming to yell at their representatives can also be a really great way of slowing the process,” Young said.
She disagrees with several bills, including Senate Bill 76, which seeks to ensure local compliance with immigration enforcement, and House Bill 1343, which allows the adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard to establish a military police force within the guard.
If elected, she said she would communicate with constituents by potentially working to establish public meetings for them to voice their concerns and by being active on social media.
Indiana’s primary election will take place May 5. The general election will be uncontested.
