Leader in Indiana’s GOP race for U.S. House District 7 has been dead since March

INDIANAPOLIS — The leader in the Republican race for Indiana’s seventh district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives has been dead since March.

According to results from Tuesday’s primary election, Jennifer Pace is leading the race with 31.2% of the vote, or 7,704 votes, as of Wednesday morning. Pace reportedly died of a heart attack in March after she qualified to be on the ballot.

The race, which consists of three other Republican candidates, has not been called as of Friday morning. As of 8:50 a.m. on Wednesday, the following results have been reported:

• Jennifer Pace – 31.2% of the vote, or 7,704 votes
• Catherine Ping – 29.91% of the vote, or 7,384 votes
• Philip Davis – 25.74% of the vote, or 6,356 votes
• Gabe Whitley – 13.15% of the vote, or 3,246 votes.

The winner of the Republican race is expected to face U.S. Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind. District 7), an incumbent who received 91.07% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary.

If Pace wins the Republican primary, officials with the Indiana Republican Party said that a caucus of precinct committeemen in the seventh district will be called by the state’s Republican chair to fill the candidate vacancy.