Previously referred to as "The Bloody Eighth" at the local (and sometimes national) levels (see below for explanation), it was formerly a notorious swing district. However, due to a political realignment, it has in recent elections become a safeRepublican district. With aCook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+18, it is the most Republican district in Indiana.[2]
As of 2023, Indiana's 8th congressional district is located in southwest and west central Indiana. It includes Clay, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Greene, Knox, Martin, Orange, Owen, Parke, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Sullivan, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, and Warrick Counties, and half ofFountain.
Fountain County is split between this district and the4th district. They are partitioned on the western border by Indiana State Rt 32, East Prairie Chapel Road, and South New Liberty Road, and on the southeastern border by North Sandhill Road, Indiana West 260N, North Portland Arch Road, West County Home Road, and Indiana West 450N. The 8th district takes in the five townships ofFulton,Jackson,Millcreek,Van Buren, andWabash, as well as most of the township ofTroy and part of the township ofCain.
Based inEvansville, the 8th congressional district was widened when Indiana lost a seat after the2000 U.S. census to include much of the former 5th and 7th congressional districts. At that time,Bloomington (the home of formerU.S. RepresentativeFrank McCloskey) was moved into the 9th congressional district, while the 8th congressional district was extended northward to include much of the former 7th congressional district in west-central Indiana, includingTerre Haute. As a result of this expansion, the district is the largest in area in Indiana with all or part of 18 counties.
The district has been nicknamed"The Bloody Eighth" because of a series of hard-fought campaigns and political reversals. Unlike most other districts in the state, which tend to give their representatives long tenures in Washington, the 8th congressional district has a reputation for frequently ousting incumbents from both parties.[4] Since 1983, no one has held the seat or its predecessors for longer than 12 years. Voters in the district ousted six incumbents from 1966 to 1982. The election in1984 was so close that the House of Representatives itself determined which of two candidates to seat, accepting the recommendation of the Democratic-controlled House task force sent to Indiana to count the ballots. Democratic incumbentFrank McCloskey ultimately won by a margin of four votes out of 233,000 cast.[5] After that, McCloskey was reelected four more times before losing to RepublicanJohn Hostettler in 1994, amid theRepublican Revolution. Hostettler represented the district for six terms before being defeated in a landslide by moderate DemocratBrad Ellsworth in 2006. It was the first district picked up by the Democrats that year, and was one of thirty nationwide that they gained while regaining control of the House.[6] Ellsworth ran unsuccessfully forU.S. Senate in 2010 and was succeeded by RepublicanLarry Bucshon in the same election cycle and has since become the first representative of the district to surpass six terms. Although Southern Indiana is ancestrally Democratic, the Democrats in this area are nowhere near as liberal as their counterparts in the rest of the state. Historically, it had a character similar toYellow Dog Democrat districts in neighboringKentucky. The district also has a strong tint ofsocial conservatism.
In 2000, aNew York Times reporter said of the district: "With a populist streak and a conservative bent, this district does not cotton tocountry club Republicans or tosocial-engineering liberals," and also said, "More than 95 percent white and about 41 percent rural, the region shares much of the flavor of theBible Belt."[7]
In 2013, the district shifted and was pushed southward toward Evansville, losing Fountain and Warren Counties, and gaining Dubois, Perry, and Spencer Counties, and a portion of Crawford County, unitingsouthwestern Indiana under one district.
In 2023, the district regained some its former territory, pushing back into Fountain County, but also gained the remainder of Crawford County and the entirety of Orange County from the 9th District.
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