A district that touches parts of the north side is expected to be one of the most competitive in the state.
When state Rep. Kyle Walker, a Republican, announced he wouldn’t seek reelection to Senate District 31, it set off a competitive primary election that featured four Republicans and four Democrats.
The two candidates left standing are Republican Juanita Albright, a school board member and internal medicine doctor at Ascension St. Vincent, and Democrat Kerry Forestal, the Marion County sheriff.
The candidates are nearly even in the fundraising battle. Albright reported about $70,000 cash on hand at the April 17 filing deadline and has since received about $15,000 in additional contributions, according to campaign finance records. Forestal reported just over $55,000 at the deadline and has received $27,600 in additional contributions.
The district includes a portion of northeast Marion County, the Geist reservoir area and Fishers.
While the seat has been under Republican control for decades, some Democrats see it as a winnable district. After redistricting following the U.S. Census results, Walker won the seat by 10 percentage points in 2022, though his predecessor, former Sen. Jim Merritt, won the district by less than 4 percentage points in 2018 under the previous maps.
Albright wants transparency from hospitals
Albright, 58, found her life’s passion caring for older patients. A northern Indiana native, she moved to central Indiana after completing medical school at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania. She lives in Fishers, where she has worked as a physician for more than two decades.
Albright jumped into politics in 2022, winning a seat on the Hamilton Southeastern school board. She was part of a 4-candidate conservative block that campaigned against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. She served as board president in 2024 and 2025. Her term ends this year.
She said she identifies as a moderate candidate who “wants to see both parties come together to the middle as much as we can.”
If elected, Albright said she would look to find ways to incentivize more medical professionals to go into primary care, which faces a shortage of doctors. She’d also like to see more transparency from hospitals when it comes to pricing.
“When I get my car fixed, I get an estimate,” Albright said. “If my patients get an MRI, they don’t know the cost.”
As Indiana Republicans consider ending property taxes on homes, Albright said she’s listening to her constituents, many of whom are concerned about property taxes but don’t want to lose funding for roads, schools and police departments.
“It can be a big issue and keep people from purchasing homes. I think there needs to be a balance,” she said. “It’s great to say, ‘Let’s get rid of property taxes,’ but we have to replace it with something because we need good schools. We need safety in our communities.”
When asked for her feelings about President Donald Trump and whether his low approval ratings could hurt Republican candidates in Indiana, Albright said she “doesn’t answer” to Trump and is focused on what she can do for local residents.
“I just ask people to look at me as a person, and look at what I stand for and what I want to do for the community, and that’s not tied to any one person,” Albright said.
Albright has received endorsements from Sen. Jim Banks, Gov. Mike Braun, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and Indiana Right to Life.
Forestal focused on public safety, schools
Forestal, 70, is finishing his last year as the sheriff of Marion County, a position that is limited to two terms. The eastside native decided to make the leap into state politics soon after Walker announced he wasn’t seeking reelection.
A moderate Democrat and former U.S. marshal, his campaign priorities include lowering healthcare costs, making childcare affordable and holding utility companies accountable.
Public safety is also one of his top concerns, which is what you might expect from someone who spent his five-decade career in law enforcement. But he says he’s also focused on delivering more funding for schools and increasing the minimum salary for teachers on a consistent basis.
“The teachers go in there every day. They’re molding the minds of the next generation. They should be getting paid first,” Forestal said.
As sheriff, Forestal has raised concerns about the number of offenders who are released into Marion County despite being convicted in other parts of the state. He’d like to see the state enact tighter regulations around sex offenders.
“It’s important we don’t have sex offenders being brought here, or think it’s a great place to come, when they need to stay where they came from,” Forestal said.
An Indianapolis resident, Forestal attracted criticism from immigration advocates last year after it was reported that the Marion County Jail was holding ICE detainees for weeks and months at a time.
He said at the time that he was constrained by an agreement between the sheriff’s office and the U.S. Marshals Service dating back to 1996 that allowed the federal government to use the local jail to house federal detainees. After the jail became overcrowded, the sheriff’s office instituted a new policy that detainees would not be held for more than 48 hours.
As a candidate, Forestal has spoken out against calls for “mass deportation” and called for an immigration system “that protects the nation’s borders while respecting due process and human dignity.”
Forestal has received endorsements from the Indiana AFL-CIO, IBEW Local 481, and the Indiana State Teachers Association.
The election is Nov. 3. Early voting started Oct. 6.
For more information on all of the candidates running for office, check out Mirror Indy’s Voter Guide.
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Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him by phone or Signal at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
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