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Former Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, resigned from the Indiana Legislature in December after winning the 2023 Gary mayoral race. (Photo/Indiana Senate Democrats)

By Marilyn Odendahl

The Indiana Citizen

January 3, 2024

A seasoned city councilman and a political newcomer will vie Wednesday in a Lake County Democratic Party caucus to fill the Statehouse seat vacated by newly elected Gary mayor Eddie Melton.

David Vinzant, who has served on the Hobart City Council for 16 years, and Mark Spencer, who was elected to a Gary City Council at-large seat in November, have both filed to succeed Melton, who resigned from the District 3 Indiana Senate seat in December after he won the Gary mayoral election.

Jim Wieser, Lake County Democratic Party chair, said both Vinzant and Spencer are qualified to serve in the Indiana General Assembly. But the winner will have the challenge of learning the legislative process very quickly, since the short session convenes Jan. 8 and ends by March 14.

“Both of them have the talent to do it,” Wieser said of Vinzant and Spencer. “It’s the learning curve that is going to take a while.”

Melton has endorsed Spencer, describing him as “a living example who has put service to the community first throughout his life,” according to reporting by the Post-Tribune. Melton also said Spencer has an “upstanding character and outstanding work ethic.”

Spencer has been a teacher for 30 years and is currently the director of the Gary Community School Corp.’s West Side Theatre Guild, according to the Chicago Crusader.

Vinzant, a 1979 graduate of Purdue University, started his own business, Vinzant Software, in 1988. He was elected and began his first term on the Hobart City Council in 2008. He served four terms but did not run for reelection in 2023.

Wieser did not favor either candidate, saying both Spencer and Vinzant would “fit nicely” with the delegation representing northwest Indiana in the legislature.

“Both of them have the temperament to work across the aisle and work well with colleagues,” Wieser said.

About one-fifth of the 150 lawmakers in the Indiana General Assembly arrived through a caucus election, according to the political blog Capitol & Washington. According to a data analysis by Capitol & Washington creator Trevor Foughty, politicians leave office early for several reasons, including non-political reasons, the assumption of another elected office, or other political reasons (such as being appointed by the governor to lead a state agency).

The caucus for Melton’s replacement is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Dean and Barbara White Community Center in Merrillville. The event will not be livestreamed.

Each candidate will be given 3 minutes to speak to the precinct committee members and then the members will vote by paper ballot. The candidate who gets 50% plus 1 of the votes will serve the remainder of Melton’s Senate term, which ends in 2024. Wieser said 87 precinct committee members are eligible to vote in the caucus.

Top on the agenda for Melton’s replacement, Wieser said, is the potential construction of the new convention center planned for Lake County. Melton authored Senate Enrolled Act 434, which, in part, established the Lake County Economic Development and Convention Fund, enabled the Lake County fiscal body to increase the county innkeeper’s tax up to 5%, and allowed proposals to be submitted for construction and operation of the Lake County Convention and Event Center.

During the 2023 legislative session, Melton championed the bill as having “a transformative impact on economic development in Gary, Lake County and the state of Indiana.”

A site for the new center has not yet been selected, but Wieser said Melton’s successor would likely have a lot of influence over where it is built.

Another issue of concern for Lake County residents is Senate Bill 27, authored by Republican Sens. Rick Niemeyer, of Lowell, and Dan Dernulc, of Highland. Introduced this session, the bill would require the Lake County Council to review and approve the annual budget of the Lake County Convention and Visitor Bureau.

Wieser was noncommittal about SB 27. Although other local agencies must get approval of their budgets, he said overseeing the convention and visitor bureau’s budget would create more work for the county council.

Dwight Adams, a freelance editor and writer based in Indianapolis, edited this article. He is a former content editor, copy editor and digital producer at The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, and worked as a planner for other newspapers, including the Louisville Courier Journal.