State Sen. Eddie Melton entered the race for governor last year because he felt state government should do a better job meeting the needs of everyday Hoosiers.

A Democrat from Gary, Melton, 39, announced his candidacy in October 2019.

By January, he was out.

Instead of the governor’s office, he filed for his District 3 Senate seat and won reelection.

A personable candidate with a respectable legislative record for a Democrat in a GOP supermajority chamber, Melton still faced daunting odds and a lack of cash in the race governor.

“The stark reality of how much time and attention it takes to fund raise, I never had that experience before,” he said pointing to the need to build a campaign infrastructure to sustain funding through the primary and general election.

“I was extremely optimistic we would be successful in the primary, but knowing the governor was sitting on $6 (million) to $7 million, it would be hard to compete while raising name recognition and credibility.

On Nov. 3, Dr. Woody Myers, the eventual Democratic nominee and a former state health commissioner, received just 32% of the vote to Holcomb’s 57%.

“It was a learning experience. I don’t regret doing it,” Melton said of his candidacy.

Money, name recognition, geography and Republican dominance make it nearly impossible for Democrats to gain statewide traction in Indiana, the first state called for Donald Trump in last month’s presidential election. Indiana’s 11 Electoral College votes moved to the Trump column less than two hours after polls here closed. President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat, won just five of 92 counties.

“The Democratic Party in Indiana has not done a good job building their bench,” said Porter County Democratic Chairman Jeffrey Chidester. “It’s nobody’s fault, that’s just how it transpired the last few election cycles.”

Melton knew it would be a big challenge to unseat popular Gov. Eric Holcomb. In hindsight, he said he would have built a better organization at the onset and built up a heftier campaign war chest.

“That’s the trend,” he said, noting the dollars that pour in from special interest groups, which can tilt the race.

Lake County Democratic Chairman James Wieser said several factors isolate Northwest Indiana from the rest of Indiana, including a different time zone and a Chicago-centric media.

“Unless you’re really into government and politics, the average person doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on in Indiana,” he said. Wieser said local people have asked him if he was voting for J.B. Pritzker, who is Illinois’s Democratic governor.

“I just think there’s a lot of dynamics that challenge a person from Northwest Indiana. I would never say it’s an impossibility,” he said. “I would say it’s extremely difficult.”

For more than a decade, Republicans have found success in the Statehouse, controlling the governor’s office and both legislative chambers by such majorities that they can pass laws without Democrats showing up.

With that control comes the power to write legislative maps after a census. Democrats say Republicans have abused that power, gerrymandering districts to ensure Republicans maintain control.

The Citizens Action Coalition has been pressing the General Assembly to establish redistricting standards. Despite a flurry of lobbying, no action was taken last year.

Chidester doesn’t expect change. “It used to be a handful of seasoned politicians in a room. It’s now gone to right wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation, which does algorithms. You have politicians picking voters instead of voters picking them.”

The Coalition said lopsided districts create polarization that helps elect fringe candidates and reduces compromise and consensus building.

It wants the General Assembly to create a nine-member bipartisan commission that would hold virtual town hall meetings in January and February to propose new voting districts the General Assembly before members draw the maps from new census data.

Republican leaders said they will hold public hearings around the state before redistricting, but didn’t sign on to backing changes in the Coalition process.

“The only thing I will note about gerrymandering is that it is in the eyes of the beholder,” said House Speaker Todd Huston.

Chidester doesn’t expect Republicans to approve the Coalition’s recommendation for a redistricting commission. He thinks the best hope for Democrats is a Supreme Court challenge.

Despite his early departure from the race, Melton is glad he tested the waters.

“I think we brought a lot of issues to the table. I think there is an opportunity for someone Black or a minority to win that office. It has to be the right message that resonates with voters.”

There could be an added bonus from the exposure, he said.

“Knowing that I was able to compete on that level has helped position my district in a better way … I can be supported in moving Northwest Indiana forward. I learned a lot in that race.”

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.