Ronald J. Alting is a member of the

Indiana State Senate The Indiana State 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-yea ...

representing Senate District 22, which contains most of

Tippecanoe County Tippecanoe ( ) may refer to several places or things in the United States: * The 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana * A nickname for William Henry Harrison (U.S. President March 1841–April 1841) from his role in the battle ** Tippecanoe and Tyl ...

. He is a Republican. Alting was first elected to the Indiana State Senate in 1998. Prior to that, Alting served as a member of the

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( ) is a city in and is the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Lafayette ...

City Council.

Education

Alting holds a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree from Purdue University.

Political career

Alting was President of the

City Council from 1995 to 1998. He was first elected to the

in 1998.Joe Paul
Ron Alting Easily Retains State Senate Seat
WBAA (November 6, 2018). He defeated Democratic nominee Michael Oxenrider in 2010,Ty Jepson & Ray Carter

''Purdue Exponent'' (November 3, 2010). was unopposed for reelection in 2014, and was re-elected in 2018 against his Democratic opponent Sherry Shipley, a dean at

Ivy Tech Community College Ivy Tech Community College (Ivy Tech) is a public community college system in the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the state's public community college system and it has more than 40 locations. It is also the state's largest public postsecondary ins ...

. In the Senate, he has held the Republican Caucus position of Assistant Majority Whip. In the Senate, Alting has been chair of the Public Policy Committee and a member of the Elections Committee and Judiciary Committee. He has also been a member of the Subcommittee on Probate Code and Trusts. Alting voted for the controversial

Religious Freedom Restoration Act The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (November 16, 1993), codified at through (also known as RFRA, pronounced "rifra"), is a 1993 United States federal law that "ensures that interests in religio ...

in 2015, although he later said that he "tremendously" regretted that vote. Along with Senator Mike Bohacek, Alting has sponsored a

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

s bill in the state Senate in 2019, seeking to allow judges to increase sentences for bias-motivated crimes (Indiana is one of just five states without such a law).Dave Bangert
Sen. Alting, his hate crime bill and the 'right side of Indiana history'
''Journal & Courier'' (February 18, 2019).Dave Bangert
Lafayette Sen. Ron Alting will vote against his own, gutted Indiana bias crime bill
''Journal & Courier'' (February 20, 2019). In 2019, Alting asked his colleagues in the Senate to "be on the right side of Indiana history" by voting for the legislation. Other Republicans in the state Senate, however, gutted the bill, removing the specified protection categories—race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability—and replacing them with a generic definition of "bias." Alting voted against the bill as amended, honoring a pledge not to support any hate-crimes bill that omitted protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In 2020, Alting supported legislation to create more protections for pregnant women in the workplace; the measure would mandate that additional Indiana businesses "allow pregnant women to take longer breaks, transfer to less physical work and take unpaid time off after childbirth."Tom Davies
Indiana push for pregnant worker protections gets sidelined
Associated Press (February 3, 2020). The bill was supported by Indiana's Republican Governor

Eric Holcomb Eric Joseph Holcomb ( ; born May 2, 1968) is an American politician who served as the 51st governor of Indiana, from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2016 to 2017 as the 51st Lieuten ...

as well as by Democrats, as a way to reduce Indiana's

infant mortality rate Infant mortality is the death of an infant before the infant's first birthday. The occurrence of infant mortality in a population can be described by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age ...

(which is among the highest in the U.S.). However, the proposal was opposed by the business lobby, specifically the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Manufacturers Association. Other Republicans in the legislature ultimately killed the proposal, sending it to a study committee. In 2022, Alting came out as pro-choice in explaining his opposition to a bill that would ban many abortions with exceptions for health of the mother and rape. He criticized the bill as taking away the rights of women, "particularly those of making a choice, not that all those choices will be that of abortion, but making a choice."

Business career

Alting is a Key Account Specialist, Tipmont REMC (Rural Electric Membership Cooperative) and has been an officer in the

Indiana Guard Reserve The Indiana Guard Reserve (IGR), formerly the Liberty Guard and the Indiana Legion, is the state defense force of the state of Indiana. The Indiana Guard Reserve serves under the exclusive authority of the governor of the State of Indiana throug ...

. He is also the founder, owner, and manager of Patout's of New Orleans in Lafayette.

Personal life

Alting is a widower with two children. His hometown is in Lafayette, Indiana. He is a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

References

External links

State Senator Ronnie Alting
''official Indiana State Legislature site''
Ronnie Alting at Ballotpedia
*

at OurCampaigns {{DEFAULTSORT:Alting, Ronnie Living people People from Lafayette, Indiana Indiana city council members Republican Party Indiana state senators 21st-century members of the Indiana General Assembly Purdue University alumni People from Tippecanoe County, Indiana Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century members of the Indiana General Assembly State defense forces of the United States personnel