© 2025 Northeast Indiana Public Radio
A 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Public File 89.1 WBOI

Listen Now · on iPhone · on Android
NPR News and Diverse Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Support for WBOI.org comes from:
Congress is taking back funding for public media. You can help Save WBOI. Donate Now >>

Cyndi Carrasco chosen by GOP precinct caucus to replace Jack Sandlin in Indiana Senate

Cyndi Carrasco speaks into a microphone. Carrasco is a woman with dark hair, wearing a black jacket over a black and white top.
Brandon Smith
/
IPB News
Cyndi Carrasco speaks to Republican precinct caucus members before those members voted to send her to the Indiana Senate on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023.

Former state Inspector General Cyndi Carrasco will be Indiana’s newest state senator.

A Republican precinct caucus chose Carrasco Wednesday to replace Jack Sandlin, who died unexpectedly last month.

Carrasco has a long career of government service. She worked for eight years in the inspector general’s office before becoming the first woman to serve in that role. She was deputy general counsel for Gov. Eric Holcomb and also recently worked for the Indiana House of Representatives as an attorney.

She said those experiences will allow her to hit the ground running as a lawmaker.

“To be able to focus on the issues, on developing the relationships that are necessary in order for me to be an effective legislator,” Carrasco said.

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, including our project Civically, Indiana.

A former candidate for Marion County prosecutor, Carrasco said a key issue she’ll focus on is public safety.

Carrasco overwhelmingly defeated former state Rep. John Jacob in the precinct caucus.

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.