© 2024 Northeast Indiana Public Radio
NPR News and diverse music.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Underwriter Message

Republican state lawmaker announces resignation hours after end of 2023 session

Indiana Republican Representative Ann Vermilion speaks on the floor of the House. Vermilion is a White woman with blonde hair, wearing a suit.
Jonathan Hawkins
/
Courtesy of the Indiana House Republican caucus
Rep. Ann Vermilion (R-Marion) announced her resignation from her state House seat hours after the end of the 2023 legislative session.

Rep. Ann Vermilion (R-Marion) announced late Friday night she is leaving her Statehouse seat, effective Monday.

In a letter to the Speaker of the House and a Facebook post, Vermilion said her decision to resign was made “without hesitation, with utter peace and anticipation of our family’s future endeavors.”

Vermilion, a health care consultant and former hospital administrator, has helped lead on health care issues in her more than three years in the General Assembly. This session, she was the lead House sponsor of SB 1, a measure aimed at improving mental health care access.

READ MORE: 2023 legislative session was all about the money, from health care to housing to education

Join the conversation and sign up for the Indiana Two-Way. Text "Indiana" to 73224. Your comments and questions in response to our weekly text help us find the answers you need on statewide issues throughout the legislative session. And follow along with our bill tracker.

The Republican has also split from her party on some high-profile issues, including last year’s abortion ban and this year’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth in committee.

A Republican precinct caucus will choose a replacement to serve the rest of Vermilion’s term. In her social media post, Vermilion backed Lori Goss-Reaves, a social worker and Indiana Wesleyan University professor, to replace her.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Tags
Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.