For Frank Mrvan, presumptive successor of US Rep. Pete Visclosky, things worked to his advantage
“Never forget where you came from,” she told him sternly. “I voted for you, and we expect you to make this a better place.”
Mrvan paused for a second, thanked her, and later left the store with an appreciative tear in his eye.
“That’s the reality of what this job would be,” Mrvan recalled to me afterward.
The longtime North Township trustee is the presumptive successor of U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Gary, who announced in November he would not seek re-election after 35 years in office. Mrvan is the overwhelming favorite in the November election against Republican primary victor Mark Leyva, who has lost multiple times to Visclosky in our heavily Democratic region. The seat has been held by a Democrat since 1931.
On Election Night, as vote totals came in, Mrvan began receiving congratulatory phone calls from a few of the 13 Democratic candidates in his race. That’s when it hit him. He won. Mrvan turned to his wife, Jane, to thank her. She was a key political player in his campaign. Then he called to share the news with his mother and father, a longtime state senator.
After seven months of campaigning – amid a global pandemic, unprecedented government restrictions, an economic recession and a civil rights movement – Mrvan could finally exhale. He had a “good feeling” about this congested and at times contentious race. In typical Mrvan style, he kept grinding at his campaign. It paid off.
“People were very encouraging and our message resonated with them, from Lowell to Whiting to Gary,” Mrvan said. “Our positive campaign absolutely had an impact in our victory.”
The phrase “positive campaign” is too often an oxymoron in Lake County, Indiana, where political races can be a blood sport. My book, “Crooked Politics,” details just how dirty some politicians can be in that county, even in low-profile races. The race to replace Visclosky was as major as they come in our region, especially after his 35-year stronghold as congressman.
“We haven’t had an election of this congressional magnitude in decades,” said George Van Til, the former Lake County Surveyor who was convicted of public corruption charges. He offered guidance to a few candidates in various primary races, he said.
Visclosky has been historically protective of his public service record and his legacy. He had no legal or political obligation to endorse any candidate. In March, he endorsed Mrvan. It was critical to the township trustee’s victory.
Mrvan’s toughest competitor was five-term Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., who had deeper campaign funding and established programs in his city. He’s outspoken and opinionated. And like him or not, you know who he is, mayor of the most populated city in Northwest Indiana.
“Out of the gate, Mayor McDermott was clearly the frontrunner,” said Lake County Democratic Chairman James Wieser.
And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and closed down political campaigning as we knew it. Rallies, events, fundraisers, debates, forums and door-to-door campaigning with handshakes, smiles and face-to-face promises.
“The COVID-19 pandemic changed the entire dynamic of campaigning, perhaps more to the detriment of the mayor,” Wieser said.
McDermott lost one of his best strengths and, I believe, it cost him the election, along with Visclosky endorsing Mrvan.
McDermott is a textbook “retail politician.” He’s charismatic, engaging, and politically savvy. He also is the single largest contributor to the county’s Democratic Party, I’m told. The pandemic and its social restrictions put a hurt on his traditional campaign efforts. Another detriment to his campaign was that his wife, Marissa McDermott, was not legally allowed to campaign because she’s a county judge. (Thomas McDermott declined comment for this column.)
When Visclosky announced he wouldn’t seek reelection, my first choice for his successor was Highland Clerk-Treasurer Michael Griffin, who decided against running. I figured he would be the consummate congressman. But he lacked the political muscle against contenders like McDermott, Mrvan, Mara Candelaria Reardon and Jim Harper.
For Mrvan, the pandemic in a way worked to his advantage. As trustee, his career was all about helping people when they needed it most. He didn’t have to make controversial policy decisions that may divide a city, or a region, like McDermott has done as mayor.
“How can you say anything bad about Frank Mrvan? All he ever seemed to do was help people. And those people remembered on Election Day,” said one Lake County political insider. “As mayor of a major city, Tom McDermott had to make difficult decisions that weren’t always popular. He also (angered) some people along the way. And they remembered.”
This is how local politics work. What have you done for
Mrvan piled up key endorsements from powerful organizations, such as the American Federation of Teachers-Indiana, the International Longshoremen’s Association, and the United Steelworkers union (Mrvan’s grandfather was a steelworker who came to this country from Czechoslovakia).
“I just kept doing the work that I had done consistently for 15 years as a township trustee,” Mrvan said. “I believe this will be an asset for the First District going forward.”
He’s too respectable to his Republican opponent to publicly presume victory in November.
“The election is a two-step process,” Mrvan said modestly.
But, come on, he’s a shoo-in who should expect to get whacked with a loaf of bread more often in grocery stores.
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