Karen Tallian

Democratic Party of Indiana Chair

Tenure

Present officeholder

Prior offices:

Indiana State Senate District 4

Years in office: 2005 - 2021

Successor:Rodney Pol Jr. (D)

Elections and appointments

Last convention

June 13, 2020

Education

Associates

Harrington Institute of Design

Bachelor's

University of Chicago

Law

Valparaiso University School of Law

Personal

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Karen Tallian is theDemocratic Party of Indiana Chair.

Tallian (Democratic Party) ran for election forAttorney General of Indiana. She lost in the Democratic convention onJune 13, 2020.

In 2015, Tallian campaigned forgovernor ofIndiana in the2016 elections. On August 17, 2015, Tallian dropped out of the race following the AFL-CIO's endorsement ofJohn Gregg (D).^[1]Tallian was elected chair of theIndiana Democratic Party in March 2025.^[2]

Biography

Tallian earned her B.A. in philosophy and psychology from the University of Chicago in 1972 and her J.D. from Valparaiso University in 1990. Her professional experience includes working as an adjunct professor for Valparaiso University Law School, attorney for the Portage Township Trustee, the Portage Fire Department, the Porter County Plan Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals, attorney for Hilbnich Law, attorney for Bruce Clark and Associates and attorney/Partner for Eberhard and Gastineau since 1998.^[3]

Committee assignments

2021-2022

Tallian was assigned to the following committees:

• Appropriations Committee
• Corrections and Criminal Law Committee,Ranking minority member
• Senate Environmental Affairs Committee
• Pensions and Labor Committee
• Senate Public Policy Committee
• Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee

2019-2020

Tallian was assigned to the following committees:

• Appropriations Committee,Ranking minority member
• Corrections and Criminal Law Committee,Ranking minority member
• Senate Environmental Affairs Committee
• Pensions and Labor Committee
• Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee

2018 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2018 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

2016 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2016 legislative session, Tallian served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Tallian served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Tallian served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Tallian served on these committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Tallian served on these committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2020

See also: Indiana Attorney General election, 2020

General election

General election for Attorney General of Indiana

Todd Rokita defeatedJonathan Weinzapfel in the general election for Attorney General of Indiana on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Todd Rokita (R)	58.3	1,721,995
		Jonathan Weinzapfel (D)	41.7	1,229,624

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,951,619
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Attorney General of Indiana

Jonathan Weinzapfel defeatedKaren Tallian in the Democratic convention for Attorney General of Indiana on June 13, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jonathan Weinzapfel (D)	51.2	1,057
		Karen Tallian (D)	48.8	1,009

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,066
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican convention

Republican convention for Attorney General of Indiana

Todd Rokita defeated incumbentCurtis Hill,Nate Harter, andJohn Westercamp in the Republican convention for Attorney General of Indiana on July 9, 2020.

		Candidate
		Curtis Hill (R)
		Nate Harter (R)
✔		Todd Rokita (R)
		John Westercamp (R)

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Adam Krupp (R)

Democratic primary convention

Karen Tallian andJonathan Weinzapfel declared their candidacy for the Democratic convention on June 13, 2020.

Republican primary convention

IncumbentCurtis Hill,Nate Harter, andJohn Westercamp declared their candidacy for the Republican convention on June 20, 2020.

2018

See also:Indiana State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Indiana State Senate District 4

IncumbentKaren Tallian defeatedCole Stultz in the general election for Indiana State Senate District 4 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Tallian (D)	60.4	26,762
	Submit photo	Cole Stultz (R)	39.6	17,557

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 44,319
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Indiana State Senate District 4

IncumbentKaren Tallian advanced from the Democratic primary for Indiana State Senate District 4 on May 8, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Tallian	100.0	6,289

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 6,289
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Indiana State Senate District 4

Cole Stultz advanced from the Republican primary for Indiana State Senate District 4 on May 8, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Cole Stultz	100.0	3,596

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 3,596
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

2016

See also:State executive official elections, 2016

Tallian announced her 2016 campaign forGovernor of Indiana on May 11, 2015.^[4] On August 17, 2015, Tallian dropped out of the race forGovernor of Indiana following the AFL-CIO's endorsement ofJohn Gregg (D).^[5]

2014

See also:Indiana State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for theIndiana State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 6, 2014. The general election was held onNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 7, 2014. IncumbentKaren Tallian was unopposed in the Democratic primary and was unchallenged in the general election.^[6][7]

2010

See also:Indiana State Senate elections, 2010

Tallian faced Republican candidateShawn Olson in the November 2 general election. Tallian defeated Olson by a margin of 18,888 to 15,857.^[8]

Tallian ran unopposed in the May 4 Democratic primary.^[9]

Indiana State Senate, District 4 (2010) General Election
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Karen Tallian (D)		18,888	54.4%
Shawn Olson (R)		15,857	45.6%

2006

See also:Indiana State Senate elections, 2006

On November 7, 2006, Democrat Karen Tallian won re-election to theIndiana State Senate District 4 receiving 19,431 votes, ahead of Republican Dale Brewer receiving 11,622 votes.^[10]

Indiana State Senate, District 4 (2006)
Candidates		Votes
Karen Tallian (D)		19,431
Dale Brewer (R)		11,622

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Karen Tallian did not completeBallotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Tallian has three children.

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Indiana

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Indiana scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

2021

In 2021, theIndiana State Legislature was in session from January 4 to November 15.

• Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana

Legislators are scored on their votes on issues related to consumer interests.

• ACLU Indiana

Legislators are rated based on their votes related to civil liberties.

• Indiana AFL-CIO:Senate andHouse

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.

• Indiana Chamber of Commerce

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

• Indiana Family Institute

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.

• Indiana Friends Committee on Legislation

Legislators are scored on their votes on issues related to the Quaker community.

• Indiana Manufacturers Association:Senate andHouse

Legislators are scored on their votes on whether they supported or opposed IMA's position on a bill.

• Indiana Scorecard:Senate andHouse

Legislators are scored on votes by bills supported by the organization.

• The American Conservative Union

Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

• The Indiana Coalition for Public Education

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to public education.

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

See also

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