Indiana

Indiana is home to the , one of two Catholic in the United States and one of 11 in the world. The has one of its two seminaries in . Two conservative denominations, the and the , have their headquarters in Indianapolis as does the .

The maintains offices and publishing work in . serves as the home to the . is home to the headquarters of the . is in Fort Wayne.[120]

The of the , the largest branch of American Quakerism, is based in ,. is headquartered in .[123]

Language[]

Spanish is the second-most-spoken language in Indiana, after English.[124]

Indiana has a constitutional democratic republican form of government with three branches: the executive, including an elected governor and lieutenant governor; the legislative, consisting of an elected General Assembly; and the judicial, the Supreme Court of Indiana, the Indiana Court of Appeals and circuit courts.

The serves as the state's chief executive and has the authority to manage the government as established in the Constitution of Indiana. The governor and the are jointly elected to four-year terms, with gubernatorial elections running concurrent with United States presidential elections (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, etc.). The governor works with the and the to govern the state and has the authority to adjust the other branches. The governor can call special sessions of the General Assembly and select and remove leaders of nearly all state departments, boards and commissions. Other notable powers include calling out the or the in times of emergency or disaster, issuing pardons or commuting the sentence of any criminal offenders except in cases of treason or impeachment and possessing an abundant amount of statutory authority.[127]

The lieutenant governor serves as the President of the Senate and ensures the senate rules are acted in accordance with by its constituents. The lieutenant governor votes only when needed to break ties. If the governor dies in office, becomes permanently incapacitated, resigns or is impeached, the lieutenant governor becomes governor. If both the governor and lieutenant governor positions are unoccupied, the Senate President pro tempore becomes governor.[128]

The Indiana General Assembly is composed of a 50-member and 100-member . The Senate is the of the General Assembly and the House of Representatives is the . The legislature can nullify a veto from the governor with a majority vote of full membership in the Senate and House of Representatives.[131]

The is made up of five judges with a composed of 15 judges. The governor selects judges for the supreme and appeal courts from a group of applicants chosen by a special commission. After serving for two years, the judges must acquire the support of the electorate to serve for a 10-year term. and can only hear cases petitioned to the court following being heard in lower courts. Local circuit courts are where most cases begin with a trial and the consequence decided by the jury. The Supreme Court has original and sole jurisdiction in certain areas including the practice of law, discipline or disbarment of Judges appointed to the lower state courts, and supervision over the exercise of jurisdiction by the other lower courts of the State.

The state is divided into 92 , which are led by a board of county commissioners. 90 counties in Indiana have their own with a judge elected for a six-year term. The remaining two counties, Dearborn and Ohio, are combined into one circuit. Many counties operate in addition to the circuit court. In densely populated counties where the caseload is traditionally greater, separate courts have been established to solely hear either juvenile, criminal, probate or small claims cases. The establishment, frequency and jurisdiction of these additional courts varies greatly from county to county. There are 85 city and town courts in Indiana municipalities, created by local ordinance, typically handling minor offenses and not considered . County officials elected to four-year terms include an auditor, recorder, treasurer, sheriff, coroner and clerk of the circuit court. All incorporated cities in Indiana have a mayor and council form of municipal government. Towns are governed by a town council and townships are governed by a township trustee and advisory board.

ranked Indiana first in the publication's inaugural 2017 Best States for Government listing. Among individual categories, Indiana ranked above average in budget transparency (#1), government digitization (#6), and fiscal stability (#8), and ranked average in state integrity (#25).[135]

Politics[]

From 1880 to 1924, a resident of Indiana was included in all but one presidential election. Indiana Representative was nominated for Vice President and ran with Winfield Scott Hancock in the . was elected Vice President in 1884. He served until his death on November 25, 1885, under President . was elected President and served one term. He remains the only President from Indiana. Indiana Senator was elected Vice President in 1904, serving under President until 1909. in 1916, but they both lost to and former Indiana Governor , who served as Vice President from 1913 until 1921. was elected Vice President and served one term with . was elected Vice President in 2016, to serve with .

Indiana has long been considered a stronghold, particularly in Presidential races. The (CPVI) now rates Indiana as R+9. Indiana was one of only ten states to support Republican in 1940. In 2000 and 2004 won the state by a wide margin while the election was much closer overall. The state has supported a for president only five times since 1900. In 1912, became the first Democrat to win the state in the twentieth century, with 43% of the vote. Twenty years later, won the state with 55% of the vote over incumbent Republican . Roosevelt won the state again in 1936. In 1964, 56% of voters supported Democrat over Republican . Forty-four years later, Democrat narrowly won the state against 50% to 49%., Republican won back the state for the Republican Party with 54% of the vote over the incumbent President Obama who won 43%.[144]

While only five Democratic presidential nominees have carried Indiana since 1900, 11 Democrats during that time. Before became governor in 2005, Democrats had held the office for 16 consecutive years. Indiana elects two senators and nine representatives to Congress. The state has 11 electoral votes in presidential elections. favor the Republican Party according to the CPVI rankings; there are seven Republicans serving as representatives and two Democrats. Historically, Republicans have been strongest in the eastern and central portions of the state, while Democrats have been strongest in the northwestern part of the state. Occasionally, certain counties in the southern part of the state will vote Democratic. Marion County, Indiana's most populous county, supported the Republican candidates from 1968 to 2000, before backing the Democrats in the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 elections. Indiana's second-most populous county, Lake County, strongly supports the Democratic party and has not voted for a Republican since 1972. was ranked second and came in at 83. Among conservative cities, was 44th, was 60th and was 82nd on the list.[145]

Military installations[]

Indiana is home to several current and former military installations. The largest of these is the , approximately 25 miles southwest of , which is the third largest naval installation in the world, comprising approximately 108 square miles of territory.

Other active installations include fighter units at , and airports (to be consolidated at Fort Wayne under the , with the Terre Haute facility remaining open as a non-flying installation). The conducts operations at in , helicopter operations out of Airport and urban training at . The Army's , which is now closed and turning into a coal purifier plant.

Indiana was formerly home to two major military installations; near Peru (realigned to an installation in 1994) and near Indianapolis, now closed, though the continues to operate a large finance center there ().

Arts[]

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Sports[]

Motorsports[]

Indiana has an extensive history with . Indianapolis hosts the mile race over weekend at the every May. The name of the race is usually shortened to "Indy 500" and also goes by the nickname "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing". The race attracts more than 250,000 people every year making it the largest single day sporting event in the world. The track also hosts the () and the . From 2000 to 2007, it hosted the (). Indiana features the world's largest and most prestigious drag race, the , held each weekend at in . Indiana is also host to a major power boat race circuits in the major league, the ().

Professional sports[]

As of 2013 Indiana has produced more (NBA) players per capita than any other state. Muncie has produced the most per capita of any American city, with two other Indiana cities in the top ten. play their home games at ; they began play in 1967 in the (ABA) and joined the NBA when the leagues in 1976. Although developed basketball in , in 1891, high school basketball was born in Indiana. In 1925, Naismith visited an Indiana basketball state finals game along with 15,000 screaming fans and later wrote "Basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport." The 1986 film is inspired by the story of the 1954 Indiana state champions . Professional basketball player was born in and was raised in . He went on to lead the to the NBA championship in 1981, 1984, and 1986.[147]

Indianapolis is home to the . The Colts are members of the of the . The Colts have roots back to 1913 as the . They became an official team after moving to , to Indianapolis, leading to an eventual rivalry with the . After calling the home for 25 years, the Colts play their home games at in Indianapolis. While in Baltimore, the Colts won the . In Indianapolis, the Colts won , bringing the franchise total to two. In recent years the Colts have regularly competed in the NFL playoffs.

Indiana was home to two charter members of the teams, the and the . Another early NFL franchise, the spent two seasons in the league before folding.