Mark B. Messmer
RIncumbentFEC H4IN08249
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Raised this cycle$1.4M
Cash on hand: $551K
2026 race
IN-08 — U.S. House
2 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Mark B. Messmer.
Read the record. Not the rhetoric.
See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.
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How we got here · 2 earlier contests
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Indiana Election Division.
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$1.9M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Mary Allen
DChallengerFEC H6IN08293
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Raised this cycle$493K
Cash on hand: $108K
1 defeated candidate — show
Christopher David Rector
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6IN08301
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $0
Local signal
Early read on IN-08 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Mark B. Messmerlimited coverage
No coverage in our tracked outlets in the last 90 days.
Mary Allenlimited coverage
No coverage in our tracked outlets in the last 90 days.
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle
Total disclosed
$1.9M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$1.9M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$0
No outside spending reported yet.
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mark B. Messmer(R)incumbent | $1.4M | — | — | $1.4M |
Mary Allen(D) | $493K | — | — | $493K |
1 defeated candidate — show finances
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Christopher David Rector(D)defeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside IN versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Mark B. Messmer(R)84% in-state · $790K itemized
$666K in-state$124K out-of-state
Mary Allen(D)98% in-state · $161K itemized
$158K in-state$4K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
Where they stand
Issue-by-issue comparison
Positions extracted from each candidate's campaign issues page by AI. Contested rows — where candidates disagree with each other — appear first.
| Statement | Messmer | Allen | You |
|---|---|---|---|
Agriculture Federal farm subsidies should be reduced and redirected toward smaller producers. | — | ||
Agriculture SNAP (food stamp) eligibility and benefit levels should be expanded. | — | ||
Agriculture Federal antitrust enforcement against meatpacking consolidation should be increased. | — | ||
Economy The federal minimum wage should be raised. | — | ||
Economy Tariffs on foreign goods should be used to protect American jobs. | — | ||
Economy The federal government should require employers to provide paid family and medical leave. | — | ||
Education Parents should be able to use public funds — through vouchers — to send their kids to private or charter schools. | — | ||
Education Education policy should be set by states, not the federal Department of Education. | — | ||
Environment The government should set legally enforceable limits on greenhouse gas emissions. | — | ||
Environment Government environmental reviews for energy and infrastructure projects should move faster, even if it means fewer reviews. | — | ||
Foreign Policy The U.S. should spend more on the military. | — | ||
Foreign Policy Conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel — tied to humanitarian or human-rights compliance — should be strengthened. | — | ||
Healthcare The government should provide healthcare for everyone. | — | ||
Healthcare States, not the federal government, should decide who gets Medicaid and what it covers. | — | ||
Housing The government should spend more building affordable housing. | — | ||
Housing Section 8 housing voucher funding should be increased substantially. | — | ||
Immigration People who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children should have a path to citizenship. | — | ||
Immigration The U.S. should do more to enforce immigration laws and secure the border. | — | ||
Labor Federal labor law should make it easier for workers to form unions (PRO Act-style reforms). | — | ||
Labor Federal law should preserve state right-to-work laws against union security clauses. | — | ||
Governance & Other There should be term limits for senators and representatives. | — | ||
Governance & Other Voters should be required to show photo ID, with the same rule in every state. | — | ||
Governance & Other Outside political spending — from PACs and super PACs — should be limited more strictly. | — | ||
Taxes People making over $400,000 a year should pay higher taxes. | — | ||
Taxes Corporate taxes should be lower. | — | ||
Trade Presidents should be able to impose broad tariffs unilaterally under emergency powers (IEEPA-style authority). | — | ||
Veterans The VA should cover more veterans and more health conditions. | — |
SupportsOpposesNo public positionRinged = confirmed by the campaign
Recent coverage
In the news
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.