After the quick hitting succession of exciting races in Texas, Pennslyvania and Illinois, political followers will have over a month to wait for another showdown that could provide more insight into how the landscape will look in November.

Other than the April 3 Wisconsin Supreme Court race and the April 24 special election contest in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, the nation won’t get another look at a large sample of voters until May 8 when Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia all head to the polls for primary day.

Indiana, in particular, will tell an interesting story. The Republican nomination for the US Senate seat currently held by Democrat Joe Donnelly has already received press for its nastiness, as Rep. Todd Rokita (R, IN-4), Rep. Luke Messer (R, IN-6) and self-funded millionare Mike Braun battle it out.

The state has certainly seen an insurgency of political participation in the 2018 cycle, with there being a primary fight in all of Indiana’s nine US House seats. Even long-time incumbents like Pete Visclosky (D, IN-1) and Larry C. Buschon (R, IN-8) facing inter-party fights to be renominated.

Making things even more interesting is the fact that county election boards started mailing out ballots to those who requested them on March 23, meaning many Indiana voters are looking at ballot at this moment.

Messer is seen as the more establishment choice for the Senate race, locking up several Indiana State House members as supporters already, but Rokita is seen as the outsider. He’s the candidate making the biggest gamble on winning over Trump-supporting Republicans. Rokita’s first TV ad for the race featured how he wanted to “make English the official language”.

Messer and Braun have tried to secure that same wing of their party as well, but Messer is also aiming to make himself appear the more sensible choice for Indiana Republicans.

The second-most watched primary will be the Democratic battle for the nomination in Indiana’s 9th congressional district. Dan Canon and Liz Watson are the favorites to take on Trey Hollingsworth. Also the primary battles to replace Messer and Rokita in their districts will be interesting to watch. Greg Pence, the brother of the Vice President, will be vying for the GOP nomination in IN-6.

The Democratic nomination for the sheriff’s office in deep-blue Lake County is a seven-way battle as the incumbent Oscar Martinez was only elected via caucus last year after former sheriff Joe Buncich was sent to jail for 12 years for making illegal use of his office.

With ballots already in the hands of thousands of Indiana voters, the official start of one of 2018’s biggest Senate fights is already underway. And with in-person early voting starting on April 10, the real show is about to begin.

For updates on Indiana’s main primary battles, follow me on Twitter @SamBarloga.