Abby Norden
Abby Norden (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Indiana House of Representatives to represent District 81. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024. She advanced from the Democratic primary on May 7, 2024.
Norden completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Abby Norden was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She earned an associate degree from Northwest State Community College in 2014. Her career experience includes working as a businesswoman.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Indiana House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Indiana House of Representatives District 81
Incumbent Martin Carbaugh and Abby Norden are running in the general election for Indiana House of Representatives District 81 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Martin Carbaugh (R) | |
 | Abby Norden (D)  | |
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Indiana House of Representatives District 81
Abby Norden advanced from the Democratic primary for Indiana House of Representatives District 81 on May 7, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Abby Norden | 100.0 | 1,725 |
| Total votes: 1,725 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Indiana House of Representatives District 81
Incumbent Martin Carbaugh defeated David Mervar in the Republican primary for Indiana House of Representatives District 81 on May 7, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Martin Carbaugh | 69.8 | 4,575 |
 | David Mervar | 30.2 | 1,981 | |
| Total votes: 6,556 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
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2022
See also: Indiana House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Indiana House of Representatives District 81
Incumbent Martin Carbaugh defeated Abby Norden in the general election for Indiana House of Representatives District 81 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Martin Carbaugh (R) | 99.7 | 14,854 |
| Abby Norden (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.3 | 38 | |
| Total votes: 14,892 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Indiana House of Representatives District 81
Incumbent Martin Carbaugh defeated David Mervar in the Republican primary for Indiana House of Representatives District 81 on May 3, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Martin Carbaugh | 65.3 | 3,378 |
| David Mervar | 34.7 | 1,793 | |
| Total votes: 5,171 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Abby Norden completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Norden's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Abby is a community activist, mutual aid organizer, and abolitionist. As a deconstructing domestic violence survivor, she spends her time speaking out about childhood and religious trauma, systems of oppression, and navigating life as a disabled neuro-divergent person in Indiana.
Abby is running for to encourage other people to run for office. She believes in leading by example and if we want to see the next generations in office, then we need to run. She is also using her platform as a candidate on the ballot to educate people about basic human rights, and our lack of rights here in Indiana.
- Hoosiers deserve basic human rights.
- Housing and education should be accessible to everyone.
- We need to legalize cannabis instead of incarcerating people seeking medicinal relief from a plant.
Everything related to basic human rights for Hoosiers.
I look up to the Palestinians who continue to fight for their liberation under a genocide. I hope to follow their example of kindness, love, unity, and perseverance. I hope one day soon, they are all liberated and can live without hearing the sound of occupation every day.
Honesty and integrity
I cannot be bought. Money does not impress me. I will not take money from foreign governments or PACs affiliated with foreign governments. I will put people over profits.
I believe the core responsibilities are to ensure everyone has basic human rights.
I would like to leave a legacy of truth. That the next generations do not have to deal with propaganda and indoctrination. That they thrive in well funded education and knowledge. In affordable housing with fully bellies. That we leave this world better than how we came into it. I want the legacy to not just be mine, but to be OURS. - Our generations, our community, our resilience, our healing - together.
The first that I remember was 9/11. I was 12.
My first job was on a small farm I worked the summer and fall helping to train horses and helping with 4H competitions.
"Our Town: A Heartland Lynching, a Haunted Town, and the Hidden History of White America" by Cynthia Carr because it really helped me see how close to home Racism in Indiana really is. It helped me unpack my own history with racism and see how generations have been stuck in the same cycles. It helped me break out of that cycle for my own family and really helped jump start my anti-racism in a new way.
Please Please Please by Sabrina Carpenter
Access to enough food. I have struggled with food scarcity for most of my life.
Checks and balances.
I do not think it is beneficial to have career politicians in office. I am a strong proponent of term limits.
Yes, as long as those relationships are not the result of negotiating for less than our basic human rights.
Rashida Tlaib because she was the only one to stand in front of a leader committing genocide who is wanted for crimes against humanity and call him what he is- a war criminal.
I heard from a constituent in my district who works 3 jobs, barely makes ends meet, cannot afford health care, and regularly has to make a choice between food or paying for a basic necessity like rent or the electric bill. He doesn't have kids because he can't afford to. His girlfriend also works 2 jobs and they rarely get to see each other. They would love to start a family but right now they can barely afford to keep their one bedroom apartment. They understand that having kids is expensive and unfortunately, they do not see a future here in Indiana where they can do that. Aside from the cost, she's worried about getting proper health care here in the state.
The first bill I would introduce would be to legalize cannabis and use the revenue to fully fund all public education, including class room stipends for teacher as well as increased pay and protections for substitute staff including substitute teachers, para professionals, custodians, aides, and kitchen staff,
Committees involving farming, education, housing, and environmental impact.
I believe our government should be held accountable for where we spend our tax dollars. We have plenty of tax revenue to provide basic human rights for anyone living in Indiana. Having public transparency is one of the first steps to achieving that.
A state ballot initiative would be great for our state. We need to let the people decide on important issues that affect their every day life.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2022
Abby Norden completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Norden's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am an independent write-in candidate who is pro community and pro small business. I believe in bodily autonomy and keeping the government out of our private healthcare decisions. I am against for profit prison systems and private companies profiting off of our tax dollars through an over incarceration of petty crimes in addition to the failure to effectively and thoroughly prosecute crimes against children. I believe in innovative energy solutions that benefit out planet, provide economic solutions for everyday Americans, and prevent large oil and coal corporations from taking advantage of our tax dollars. I believe in putting small businesses and our community first. There are better solutions for our society - and I believe that as Hoosiers we can come together and build up our communities from the inside out. It starts with us.
- Fund public schools! Our education systems need to be propertly funded and our teachers need livable wages.
- Healthcare - we deserve to make our own decisions about our own bodies. We deserve equal access to healthcare. We deserve abortion care. We deserve mental health care.
- Legalize marijuana, reduce our jail popluations of non violent offenders, give hoosier farmers the opportunity to cash in on one of the most lucrative crops of our generation.
Education Funding
Healthcare
Justice System Reform
Legalizing Marijuana and Hemp Production
I look up to our every day Hoosiers. The ones unsure how they are going to pay rent at the end of the month. The Hoosiers who work full time and still can't afford their medications. The families making tough decisions like which bill to pay, or what items they can sell to make ends meet. Every day Hoosiers struggling to get by, but who keep going. Our community is full of heroes and I would be honored to serve them and give back to them the way they do for all of us.
Honesty, integrity, empathy, a pull to serve your fellow Hoosiers, and high emotional intelligence.
I am very data driven with a knack for spotting patterns. I enjoy utilizing data to show the real human experiences and needs of communities. From new legislation, to community funds and grants, to food deserts- all of these have patterns that we can track. Additionally, I am a full-picture thinker with the ability to zoom into specific issue and zoom out to see how those issues fall in line with other, larger issues. I firmly believe in putting people first, above profits. I am a mother, a home maker, a worker, I've done the corporate gig, I've done local start ups. I understand that the most important piece of any project, legislation, or new idea is the people involved, and the people it will affect. I believe in building a new table so that everyone can sit and make decisions that affect all of us.
I believe the core responsibilities for legislatures is to review and pass laws and regulations that will benefit our whole society, not just a select few.
I would like to leave behind a legacy of empowerment for marginalized communities. As a disabled mother, I have seen far too many times the reality of being left behind, both figuratively and literally. I hope that when I leave office in a few years I have made a wide enough path so that every road to candidacy is wheelchair accessible.
September 11, 2001 was the first major event I remember happening. I was in Language Arts class watching it on the news with my peers. I didn't understand exactly what was happening, but I remember every adult was afraid and that scared me, too. I was just 12 years old.
My first job was working on a farm for a couple who did 4-H fairs. I helped take care of their animals and attended 4-H shows with them. It was one of my first summer jobs when I was 16 and it introduced me to my love of small farms, local foods and the value of hard work.
My favorite book right now is "Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: by Lindsay C. Gibson, PsyD. This book has helped me realized the fundamental building blocks of childhood that were missed in my upbringing which has, in turn, helped me become a better mother to my own teenager. I highly recommend it to anyone struggling with acceptance, childhood/young adulthood trauma, and isolation that comes so frequently with our current society. It really shows the generational bond of suffering from grandparent, to parent, to child. A key factor I think most of us struggle with, whether we want to admit it or not.
With the recent murder of Mahsa Amini, Iranian protesters have been using the song by Tom Odell "Another Love" to spread awareness about the brutality of their theocratic dictator. Specifically the lyrics, "And if somebody hurts you, I wanna fight! But my hands been broken one too many times! So I'll use my voice, I'll be so ** rude. Words: they always win but I know I'll lose. And I'll sing a song that'll be just ours but I sang them all for another heart."
I believe it's truly a sentiment with the reality of Iran's religious extremism and it it resonates too closely with what we are facing here at home. Many women feel too tired to fight, or feel that they have no say over their own lives in Indiana now. While I may not be a physical fighter, I do firmly believe in the power of written and spoken word. We will use our voice to be loud and rude about our human rights because they are human rights. No one's religion should take away freedom.
As a single mother, I have struggled with everything from paying bills, to feeding my family, to paying hundreds of dollars at the pharmacy. I've had to decide to put food back to pay for prescriptions. I've struggled with balancing the emotional labor of a household, while also working full time, usually over 40 hours a week and still be a full time mother. A lot of the support that parents need don't exist for us. Especially those who have experienced domestic violence and have had to restart over while processing the abuse. It takes a toll on the primary care giver of the children involved and the children, too. I will always advocate for more support for families, but especially now that SB-1 passed in Indiana. There will be many many more young mothers needing support and we have to give them everything we can or we will find ourselves with another generation of abused and neglected children and another mental health crisis.
I believe that they are the essential checks and balance of the state. It is therefore expected that they would act in an ethical way to ensure each branch put the well being of all constituents above individual personal gain.
I believe that Indiana's biggest challenge over the next decade will be providing children with equal access to quality education and healthcare free of government interference.
I believe unicameral state legislature is by definition elitist. Our government's very purpose is to represent the voice of it's people. If only one voice is speaking, we are not all being represented. It is unrealistic to assume that only one group of people could represent all of the constituents of the state. Recognizing diverse backgrounds, religions, disabilities, and cultures is essential for our state to continue economic growth. Hoosiers need to know they can trust state legislature to represent them. Diversity is the only way forward for our country.
I do not believe that career politicians help our communities. I believe term limits should be enacted for all public offices. Citizens should be represented by each other. Looking at the state of our current government - with many officials who have been in office for over a decade- it's clear that "previous experience" is a way to gate keep the legislature and ensure marginalized people cannot have a seat at the table. It is time that we change that in this country, especially Indiana.
Yes, it is necessary to have a working relationship with legislators. I will circle back to my previous answer for more explanation:
"While I do believe certain compromises are necessary and expected in policy making I do not believe in compromising human rights including the right to informed and accessible healthcare, the right to bodily autonomy, the right to quality education, and the future of our environment. " - Abby Norden
Building relationships at the expense of human rights is not ethical, nor will it be beneficial to our state as a whole. We must remember that we serve the people of this state- not the businesses.
I support a hybrid process where the legislature shares redistricting authority with a non-partition commission.
My goal is to be on the following committees:
Agriculture and Rural Development Committee
Courts and Criminal Code Committee
Education Committee,
Environmental Affairs Committee
Family, Children and Human Affairs Committee
Public Health Committee
Public Policy Committee
Natural Resources Committee
I have been following Katie Porter out of California for several years now and I am very impressed with the way she breaks down the facts to get to the root of the problems facing her constituents. I am a big fan of data and numbers, and yes - white boards too. I fully plan to use a similar no-nonsense style of legislating to ensure everyone withing our boarders are safe, healthy, and have a good quality of life. That can only happen if big corporations and industries stop price gouging and utilizing wage theft as a means to keep Hoosiers in debt and impoverished.
I have no desire to become a career politician. My goal is to make real changes in a timely manner that help everyone who finds themselves in our state. I view running for office similar to jury duty in that it is our right and our responsibility to partake in our society. If we do not participate, then we are silencing ourselves. If we do not participate then we are allowing others to make decisions for our well being, our rights, our future. So far in Indiana, the ones making these decisions have decided our well begin does not matter, our rights can be taken away (by them) and our future will be uneducated; with out access to healthcare and with a sharp uptick in rape, child sexual assault, and children being forced to give birth to their rapists child. Our Country is dangerously close to becoming a religious extremist theocracy. Regardless of anyone religious belief, it is our founding principal that all religions are free and that all people have religious freedom.
I have heard many stories from residents here where I live. The one that sticks out the most is that of a young woman in her late 20s. She had recently quit her job at a large company in my district. Despite being on a fast track for promotion, and despite being in the training program for said promotion. The reason for quitting, sexual harassment by the program's leadership, among other employees. She had told me about over a year's worth of harassment from at least 5 different employees - all of which she took to HR. HR's response was for HER to take a different route to the bathroom to avoid the men who were harassing her; or at least those who had cubicles leading to the women's restroom. She lamented on the loss of freedom at work, at how hard it was to make sure she took a specific route to not be harassed. All 5 men still had their job when she quit. When I spoke with her more about her experiences with this company, I will never forget when she said, "well I mean, it's not the worse thing that's happened to me at work before, at least I didn't get raped this time."
This woman represents all of our futures, and most women's past experiences with harassment. I could not shake the causality with which she said she had been raped at a different job a few years prior. Is this the future we expect for our children to grow up to? Is this really the expectation for any woman coming to work in Indiana? Especially now with SB-1 passed? It is past time we start protecting our constituents and that includes holding business accountable when they allow their employees to sexually harass, assault, or discriminate against other employees.
The United States "health care" system.
I believe each branch has a duty within our government. Checks and balances is extremely important to prevent one section of the government from gaining too much power.
While I do believe certain compromises are necessary and expected in policy making, I do not believe in compromising human rights including the right to informed and accessible healthcare, the right to bodily autonomy, the right to quality education, and the future of our environment.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 3, 2022
