Indiana state flagIndiana Candidates 2026
ML

Matthew S. Lehman

RepublicanIncumbentState House District 79
Jump toSnapshot

Contact

No publicly listed contact information found. We’ll add it when it surfaces.

Snapshot

Fiscal responsibilityStrong support
Limited governmentMixed
Second AmendmentNo public position found
Pro-life issuesStrong support
Family valuesStrong support

Background

Rep. Matthew S. Lehman (R) represents Indiana House District 79 in northeast Indiana and has served in the Indiana General Assembly for multiple terms (Source 1). He has served as House Majority Leader (Source 1). No Democratic challenger filed in 2026, making his primary uncontested (Source 4). He earned an 86% score on the IFI 2025 Scorecard, voting with IFI's position on six of seven tracked bills and voting X on SB 287 (partisan school board elections) (Source 2).

Positions

Fiscal responsibility

Strong support

Lehman voted YES on SB 1 (2025), the property-tax-relief bill (Source 5), and YES on SB 1 (2026), the Medicaid/SNAP eligibility-tightening bill (Source 7). These votes are consistent with his long-standing alignment with the House Republican fiscal caucus.

Limited government

Mixed

Lehman voted NAY on HB 1032 (2025 special session), the mid-cycle redistricting bill—one of only 41 votes against, including some Republicans who opposed the redistricting effort (Source 8). He voted YES on SB 3 (2026) (Source 9) and YES on SB 1 (2025) (Source 5). The NAY on HB 1032 is a notable divergence from Republican leadership on a limited-government-adjacent procedural question.

Second Amendment

No public position found

Individual roll-call records for Lehman on HB 1084 (2024) and HB 1296 (2022) were not retrieved in the per-name data available. No direct statement on Second Amendment issues was found in the sources specific to this candidate.

Pro-life issues

Strong support

Lehman voted YES on SB 3 (2026), the constitutional amendment ballot-language bill (Source 9). The IFI 2025 Scorecard shows Lehman voted ✓ on HB 1041, HB 1102, HB 1348, SB 143, SB 289, and SB 442 (Source 2). He was excused for SB 287.

Family values

Strong support

IFI 2025 Scorecard: Lehman voted ✓ on HB 1041 (Save Women's College Sports), HB 1102 (religious liberty early childhood), HB 1348 (homeschool graduate discrimination), SB 143 (Parental Rights), SB 289 (DEI prohibition), and SB 442 (human sexuality instruction). He voted X on SB 287 (partisan school board elections). Overall IFI score: 86% (Source 2).

Voting record

BillSessionTitleVoteLens
SB 12025Property tax reliefYeaFiscal responsibility
SB 12026Medicaid/SNAP verificationYeaFiscal responsibility
HB 10322025 (special)Mid-cycle redistrictingNayLimited government
SB 32026Constitutional amendment ballot languageYeaPro-life / Limited gov
HB 10412025Save Women's College SportsYeaFamily values
SB 1432025Parental RightsYeaFamily values
SB 2892025DEI prohibitionYeaFamily values / Limited gov

Endorsements

  • Indiana Family Institute
    86% ("Family Advocate" tier)
    source ↗

Sources

  1. 8.
    HB 1032 (2025 special) Roll Call 28 PDF
    https://www.scribd.com/document/1011608994/HB1032-28-H
Last researched: 2026-04-15