Before the announcement of his victory, House of Representatives incumbent Mike Pence (R) made a brief appearance at a GOP rally in Anderson Tuesday night.
As people of all ages started filing into the Paramount Theatre, the crowd quickly became lively with discussions about whether or not the Democrats would win the majority of Congress and what that might do for Pence's chances of beating his opponent, Barry Welsh (D).
"I'm not too worried about Pence losing," supporter Joel Hobbs said. "He brings such a strong chance and doesn't seem intimidated."
Tension in the banquet hall grew throughout the night as poll results were posted on a large projection screen. Every time a victorious Republican was shown, there was applause and cheers while winning Democrats left the crowd silent.
After making a speech thanking his family, his friends and his faith for being his inspiration behind his campaign, Pence said he is confident the Republican Party will win both houses this election.
"I always feel humbled when voters put their confidence in me, especially now when many of my [Republican] colleagues will not be returning to D.C.," Pence said. "We've already lost one in Indiana."
After receiving the final results of the election, Welsh said he didn't think he'd beat Pence this year, partially because of the gap between each candidates' campaign funding. Welsh spent a little more than $50,000 and Pence spent $1.2 million, Welsh said.
"If we were to have another $100,000 it would have been different." Welsh said. "We weren't able to get our message out there."
Even though he didn't win this year, Welsh said this election was part of a four-year plan to get into office.
"We put a little bit of a dent in Pence." Welsh said. "We put a scare into him. We're coming back [in 2008]."
~ Gabriel Khouli contributed to this report
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