Republican Mark Messmer won election to a U.S. House seat representing Indiana on Tuesday. The former Indiana state Senate majority leader defeated Democrat Erik Hurt, an Evansville movie theater manager. Messmer resigned from his state Senate post in September to focus on winning the seat vacated by retiring seven-term U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon. Messmer campaigned on deporting anyone who is in the country illegally, supporting Israel and promoting blockchain technology development without a central bank-issued cryptocurrency. The Associated Press declared Messmer the winner at 7:06 p.m. EST.

The Associated Press