(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – Bob Bischoff may have had a feeling after a narrow win in 2008 that his re-election bid in 2010 would be more difficult.

That turned out to be reality as the longtime Democrat state lawmaker watched his opponent ride the conservative groundswell to a win in House District 68 Tuesday.

Jud McMillin

Jud McMillin won his second attempt at the district 54 to 46 percent over Bischoff.

“I can’t possibly express enough my thanks to everyone out there who supported me,” McMillin told Eagle 99.3 Wednesday morning.

“The biggest thing I had to overcome was the straight ballot,” Bischoff said the morning after. “That’s what hurt me more than anything.”

“This was a time that there seemed to be people not happy with the direction the country was moving and it filtered all the way down to the state and to the county level,” he continued.

McMillin, a young lawyer from Brookville, did not only carry the vote in his home Franklin County, but also Bischoff’s home of Dearborn County 53.6 to 46.6. Jud would also win Ohio, Ripley, and Switzerland counties by similar margins.

In part, the HD 68 race gave Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels reason to smile on Election Night. Democrats had held a 52 to 48 majority in the state’s House of Representatives, but Republicans picked up at least seven seats Tuesday giving Republicans the majority in both chambers.

Daniels’ Aiming Higher PAC had fed more than $1 million into GOP statehouse campaigns this election season. The majority paves the governor an easier path to accomplishing his unfinished agenda over the next two years.

“We’re going to bring Indiana a new wave of reform in state government, a new wave of reform in local government, and we’re going to finally give the students of Indiana an education system built around them,” said Daniels Tuesday night.

McMillin will meet with Daniels Wednesday in Indianapolis following his swearing in.

“Don’t think I won’t be reminding the governor of his promise tonight when I meet him to keep off that riverboat money,” he said.  The capability to keep gaming money in local control was a popular issue between the two HD 68 candidates leading up to the election.

“Personally for me the thing I want to get to work on is closing the gap between our elected officials and the people at home,” McMillin said. “The first thing I want to do is get together with people and talk about what’s important to them because my personal agenda isn’t important. What’s important is making sure I’m accurately representing what the folks at home want done in Indianapolis.”

Bob Bischoff

What’s next for Bischoff, a member of the state legislature since he was first elected in 1980?

“There’s a lot of stress that won’t be there. But I’ve not given that any thought at all,” he said. “I couldn’t have been more blessed.”

“I know that I’ve done a tremendous job representing my area. That’s almost 32 years of my life I’ve dedicated to being a public servant. I just know down deep I put as much effort and work into representing my people as I could possibly do.”