The final ballots will be cast Tuesday for an Indiana election in which voters are deciding whether Republicans will continue their political dominance in the state.

Democrats are looking for secretary of state candidate Beau Bayh to provide a breakout victory over Republican Max Engling, while the GOP is aiming to extend its streak of winning all statewide elections since 2014.

Signs of a negative national mood toward President Donald Trump have Democrats eyeing the potential of gaining seats in the Legislature and perhaps scoring an upset in a congressional race.

Voters will also be deciding the fate of a proposed state constitutional amendment that would give judges the power to deny bail for more defendants they believe pose a danger to the public.

Dozens of school referendums will also be decided, and voters will see some candidates running on a partisan basis for school board for the first time.

Expensive battle for Statehouse office

Bayh benefited from connections of his father — former governor and U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh — in becoming the best-financed and best-known Democratic candidate this decade.

That’s allowed the 30-year-old attorney and Marine Corps veteran to outspend 39-year-old Engling, who was a largely unknown staffer to U.S. Sen. Jim Banks before jumping into the race in May and knocking off current Secretary of State Diego Morales for the GOP nomination.

Engling embraced the Republican mantra of election security in his campaign while attacking Bayh over his Washington-area upbringing and reliance on donors tied to his father.

Bayh, meanwhile, frequently denounced what he called corrupt spending by Morales and claimed Engling’s promise to work with the state inspector general on an internal review was an inadequate response.

Recent polls have found a tight race between Bayh and Engling, with both well ahead of Lincoln Party candidate Greg Ballard and Libertarian Lauri Shillings.

Democrats hope Bayh can boost their candidates for other state and local positions.

“It creates momentum and excitement, and you’ve got a good candidate that fits the state,” Terri Austin, a former longtime Democratic legislator from Anderson, said of Bayh’s campaign. “He has run an excellent race.”

An October poll showed 54% of Indiana voters disapproving of Trump, with 44% saying they approved of the president’s performance. Republican Gov. Mike Braun’s numbers were lower, with 48% disapproving and 38% approving.

That follows Trump winning Indiana in all three of his presidential runs by at least 16 percentage points.

“Voters, including Republicans, are souring on Trump all over the country,” said Christine Matthews, a campaign pollster for former Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels whose firm conducted the survey.

Republican Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston wouldn’t speculate on what impact the secretary of state’s race will have on down-ballot races amid disgruntlement with Trump.

“When you’re the party of the president, you know that the midterm has a chance to be challenging,” Huston told the Capital Chronicle. “I feel like Max is really running a good campaign and doing everything he can. But I always tell our team we’ve got to focus on what we can control and those types of variables, they’re outside of our control.”

The secretary of state’s race drew an unusual four-candidate field with Ballard’s entry. The former Republican Indianapolis mayor’s campaign gathered more than 40,000 voter signatures to make the ballot under the Lincoln Party banner.

If Ballard receives at least 2% of the vote, the Lincoln Party’s candidates will get their names on general election ballots for the next four years in its goal to help what he called “independent-minded candidates.” If he tops 10% the new party would join Republicans and Democrats in nominating candidates through primaries.

Shillings is seeking to maintain the Libertarian Party’s ballot status that it has held since the 1994 election.

Voters will also decide the race for state treasurer between Republican incumbent Daniel Elliott and Democratic challenger Coumba Kebe, and whether Republican Elise Nieshalla will continue as state comptroller as she faces Democrat Jessica Bailey and Libertarian John Schick.

Republicans defending legislative and congressional seats

Republicans have held two-thirds supermajority control of both state legislative chambers since the 2012 election. Democrats need to flip four seats from the current 70-30 Republican House margin to break that status and gain some more influence.

Several of the toughest races are in a cluster of Republican-held seats across the northern suburbs of Indianapolis where voters have trended more Democratic in recent years.

Democrats even targeted Huston’s hold of his Hamilton County seat over his support of data center tax breaks and increases to the state’s gasoline tax.

Worries about data center projects and rising utility bills were a prominent part of Democratic attacks against Republicans on affordability issues

A Free Press Indiana poll taken in October found 69% of likely voters surveyed opposed to new data center construction, with only 18% in favor. Similar opposition is being seen across the country.

Matthews, who has overseen frequent polls in Indiana, said Hoosiers’ attitudes have shifted rapidly to become “overwhelmingly negative” toward data center projects.

“Anyone associated with data centers is going to suffer for that,” Matthews said.

While all 100 Indiana House seats are up for election, half of the 50 Senate seats are on the ballot.

Republicans faced turmoil in the May primary as several incumbent senators lost to Trump-backed challengers following their votes against congressional redistricting.

The fall campaign has been quieter as Republicans are virtually assured of keeping a strong Senate majority, but Democrats are hoping to chip into the chamber’s current 40-10 GOP margin.

The most competitive of Indiana’s U.S. House races is the 5th congressional district, where Republican U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz faces Democratic state Sen. J.D. Ford.

Although Spartz won her third term by 18 percentage points two years ago, some national Democratic groups have spent heavily on attack ads against her.

Indiana’s other six Republican and two Democratic U.S. House members are also seeking new two-year terms.

Constitutional amendments and new casino question on ballots

The statewide ballot includes two public questions that, if they win approval, would amend the Indiana Constitution.

One proposal would allow judges to deny bail to any defendant if prosecutors prove that person poses a public danger if allowed out of jail.

The state constitution currently guarantees defendants the right to bail except in cases of murder or treason.

Supporters say the amendment is needed to detain defendants who repeatedly commit violent crimes while on bail, while critics worry it jeopardizes due process rights for defendants who could face months in jail without a conviction.

The second proposed amendment would allow judges of city or town courts to live outside the municipality.

Voters in three Fort Wayne-area counties also will decide whether to give permission for construction of a possible $500 million casino project.

That question is on the ballot in Allen, DeKalb and Steuben counties.

If voters in a county agree to allow a casino, prospective casino developers can submit their applications for that specific county to the Indiana Gaming Commission by Dec. 1.

Lawmakers earlier this year required a company winning that license to spend at least $500 million on the casino and related amenities within five years.

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