# Wendy Dant Chesser

Wendy Dant Chesser is a Democratic member of the Indiana House for district 71.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Indiana House, district 71
- Serving since: 2024-06-04
- Current term: IN 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/0761bcc1-6fbf-4a37-8b52-46c2bc6912fa

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/0761bcc1-6fbf-4a37-8b52-46c2bc6912fa (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Chesser voted against the majority of Indiana House Democrats 73 times; party unity 80%, in the bottom 5% of the Indiana House (average 95.2%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.28 (standard error 0.02), from 133 donors and 298 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 93% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Votes (IN 2025–26 session)

908 roll calls. Attendance 99.2% (Indiana House 91.6%). Party unity 80% (95.2%). 73 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-02-27 · voted nay · SB 199 - Behning · SB 199 Various education matters. · pass · https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/SB199/
- 2026-02-27 · voted yea · SB 14 - Teshka · SB 14 Pension matters. · pass · https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/SB14/
- 2026-02-27 · voted yea · SB 140 - Zimmerman · SB 140 Public safety. · pass · https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/SB140/
- 2026-02-27 · voted yea · HB 1200 - Pressel · HB 1200 Bureau of motor vehicles. · pass · https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/HB1200/
- 2026-02-27 · voted yea · SB 144 - Rowray · SB 144 Tobacco, e-liquid, and vapor devices. · pass · https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/SB144/
- 2026-02-27 · voted nay · HB 1343 - Bartels · HB 1343 Public safety matters. · pass · https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/HB1343/
- 2026-02-27 · voted yea · SB 4 - Snow · SB 4 Various fiscal matters. · pass · https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/SB4/
- 2026-02-27 · voted yea · HB 1268 - Bartels · HB 1268 Indiana defense matters. · pass · https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/HB1268/
- 2026-02-27 · voted nay · HB 1266 - Behning · HB 1266 Department of education and education matters. · pass · https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/HB1266/
- 2026-02-27 · voted yea · HB 1038 - Snow · HB 1038 Gaming matters. · pass · https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/HB1038/

## Legislation (IN 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 14 bills: 14 reached committee, 2 passed one chamber, 1 passed both, 1 became law. Cosponsored 37. 14.3% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Indiana House 45.8%; rank 88 of 99).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 1403: First time home buyer savings program. (in committee, 2026-01-08) https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/HB1403/
- HB 1404: Workplace violence restraining orders. (in committee, 2026-01-08) https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/HB1404/
- HB 1401: Employee childcare assistance partnership program. (in committee, 2026-01-08) https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/HB1401/
- HB 1400: MEWA for child care facilities. (in committee, 2026-01-08) https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/HB1400/
- HB 1402: Restrictions on location of tobacco and vaping shops. (in committee, 2026-01-08) https://openstates.org/in/bills/2026/HB1402/
- HR 43: Congratulating the Jeffersonville High School boys basketball team on winning the 2025 IHSAA Class 4A state championship title. (passed one chamber, 2025-04-07) https://openstates.org/in/bills/2025/HR43/
- HB 1560: Straight ticket voting. (in committee, 2025-01-21) https://openstates.org/in/bills/2025/HB1560/
- HB 1431: Campaign finance reports. (in committee, 2025-01-27) https://openstates.org/in/bills/2025/HB1431/
- HB 1429: Ethics training for local officials. (in committee, 2025-01-21) https://openstates.org/in/bills/2025/HB1429/
- HB 1430: Employee child care assistance partnership program. (in committee, 2025-01-21) https://openstates.org/in/bills/2025/HB1430/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $119.6K (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 92% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Campaign site: http://flemingforindiana.com/about/
- X: https://x.com/ritafleming71
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drritafleming/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ritafleming31/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rita-fleming-95913b197/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/0761bcc1-6fbf-4a37-8b52-46c2bc6912fa