As she led in the race for District 3 State Representative on Tuesday night, Ragen Hatcher wasn’t considering the race over yet.

“There’s still time,” said Hatcher, a Democrat and current state representative. But on Wednesday morning, with all precincts reporting, Hatcher was leading over Republican challenger Leslie Dallner with a 63% share of the vote and more than 6,000 votes, according to unofficial vote totals.

District 3 includes Gary, Lake Station, New Chicago and Hobart.

Hatcher was first elected to the House on Nov. 6, 2018, according to Indiana House Democrats. She’s the ranking minority member of the commerce, small business and economic development committee. Hatcher also serves on the courts and criminal code and government and regulatory reform committees.

Before her representative role, Hatcher served as an at-large member of the Gary Common Council and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of the city in 2011.

She was pleased with the voter turnout in this year’s election, Hatcher said Tuesday night.

“I appreciate the two-party system and am encouraged by the amount of people who came out to vote in this election,” she said. “We want more participation throughout Lake County and all of Northwest Indiana.”

Hatcher plans to continue her work on domestic violence legislation that will give more protection to victims. She also wants to work on the district’s property taxes to help fund projects on roads, infrastructure and the upcoming Lake County convention center.

Dallner did not respond to a request for comment.

Dallner wanted to bring new energy and focus to the position that she said constituents haven’t seen in the last eight years.

If elected, Dallner wanted to focus on health freedom, education and safe and secure communities.

She believes that no one should be denied services for not having a flu or COVID-19 vaccination. Dallner also said she’d like schools to stop grading on a sliding scale, and she wanted additional police and fire staff with more resources.

“My lived experience is the same as the voters in my district,” Dallner told the Post-Tribune in September, “and I will take that with me to Indianapolis.”

mwilkins@chicagotribune.com