James W. Merritt Jr. is a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 member of the Indiana Senate

Indiana Senate

The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year terms without term limits...

, representing the 31st District since 1997. He was first elected to the Indiana Senate in 1990. He most recently won reelection to the State Senate in 2010, defeating then-Marion County Sheriff Frank J. Anderson

Frank J. Anderson

Frank Anderson served as Sheriff of Marion County, Indiana from 2003 until 2011 when he was succeeded by Sheriff John R. Layton, and is the first black individual to serve in that post. He is the second black Sheriff in Indiana after Oatess E. Archey.-Early life and career:Frank Anderson grew up...

 by a margin of 52% to 44%.

Sen. Merritt received his B.A. in Political Science from Indiana University in 1981. Professionally, Sen. Merritt is the Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the Indiana Railroad Company. He is married and has two daughters and one son.

External links

• State Senator James W. Merritt Jr. official Indiana State Legislature site