1978Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1978 election for Indiana Senate District 21
Indiana State Senate · Indiana
James R. Butcher (R) won with 55.3% of the vote, defeating Merton Stanley (D) by 10.7 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
James R. ButcherRepublican · winner
55.3%15,083
Merton StanleyDemocrat · incumbent
44.7%12,173
27,256 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1978
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET