Indiana Conservatives Rack Up Major Wins

With two major victories in a single week, Indiana conservatives are proving that the heartland is setting the pace for 2026.

In a sweeping session dominated by conservative priorities, the Republican-controlled Indiana legislature has passed legislation, strongly backed by Heritage Action, aimed at reshaping education policy, elections, and civic instruction.

These bills include a ban on ranked-choice voting and the promotion of education measures. Republican Gov. Mike Braun has already signed the election law, Senate Bill 12, and lawmakers are now poised to deliver Senate Bill 88, containing education policies, to his desk for final approval. 

‘Success Sequence’

One of the session’s most closely watched education proposals, Senate Bill 88 cleared both chambers of the General Assembly after weeks of debate.

The bill’s key provisions include mandating that state universities accept the Classic Learning Test and enforcing the success sequence in K-12 schools. The success sequence involves finishing high school, securing full-time employment, and waiting until marriage to have children, a combination that has proven to help reduce poverty. 

The bill will require public schools to incorporate success sequence instruction into their curriculum—a set of concepts which closely align with the goals of The Heritage Foundation.

In a recent Daily Signal interview, Paul Lagemann, Heritage Action’s state advocacy manager, praised lawmakers for taking action.

“You graduate high school; you go on to either a career, into the military, for a certificate or into college. Then you get married and then you have kids, in that order,” Lagemann said of the sequence.

He explained, “Nobody’s telling this commonsense stuff to these kids. There is that cultural repetition, and that generational repetition, that inadvertently green-lights kids to have kids before they graduate from high school or to have them focusing on what may not be a proven direction for their life. I think it’s really important for kids to hear the principles of the success sequence.”

Classic Learning Test

The second element of the bill mandates public colleges and universities to accept the Classic Learning Test as an option for college admissions, alongside existing standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT. Supporters say the Classic Learning Test better reflects Western and classical thought traditions and provides an alternative pathway for students from classical and religious schooling backgrounds. 

“And what this does,” Lagemann explained, “is it requires that the state university system accept the CLT as if it were the ACT or the SAT.”

The ACT and SAT have lobbyists in every state and typically have the support of university systems.

“When we go head-to-head with this very well-funded system, it’s a fight,” Lagemann said. “Fortunately, as we stepped in and got involved with this issue, along with some other coalition members, the fact that we were able to be there to testify and engage with both the House and the Senate was a game changer.” 

Ranked-Choice Voting Ban

The education bill is the second recent win for conservatives in Indiana.

Last month, the legislature passed an election reform bill that prohibits the use of ranked-choice voting in all elections statewide. The bill passed on a 34-14 vote, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed.

Braun signed that measure into law, which will take effect later this year as part of a broader Republican effort to solidify Indiana’s traditional election framework. The law bars any election from being “determined by ranked-choice voting” or candidates from being nominated through such a system. 

Broader Conservative Agenda

The passage of SB 88 and SB 12 caps a legislative session marked by conservative lawmaking on issues ranging from classroom policies to state election procedures.

As the legislature adjourns, attention now turns to the governor’s office, where Braun’s final decisions on pending bills will shape Indiana’s policies heading into the 2026 election cycle.

Indiana becomes the third state to implement the success sequence, and the Classic Learning Test is becoming more widely accepted in a variety of schools. 

Lagemann said the recent success in Indiana demonstrates Heritage Action’s advocacy work, which the organization is planning to bring to other target states in the future.

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