U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D- Highland, was pulling ahead of Republican challenger Randy Niemeyer as results in their 1st District race continued being counted.

With 91.5% of precincts reporting, Mrvan led Niemeyer by more than 27,000 votes — 53.4% to 45% — according to unofficial election results on the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office website. Libertarian Dakotah Miskus received 1.6% of the vote.

Indiana’s 1st Congressional District encompasses Lake and Porter counties and northwestern LaPorte County.

Around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, Mrvan gathered with supporters at Laborers’ Local 41 in Munster. When he walked out into the union hall, he was greeted with a standing ovation as people clapped and chanted his name.

As election officials tabulated the votes, Mrvan said he trusted the process and the voters.

“We like the trends. We’ve worked extremely hard,” Mrvan said. “We have done everything we can to be able to be victorious. We have a very positive outlook. We are cautiously optimistic as the returns come in.”

After 9:30 p.m., Mrvan addressed his supporters with a “cautiously optimistic” acceptance-style speech as returns from Lake and LaPorte counties looked strong and Porter County worked out a tabulating machine hiccup, he said.

“I want to be able to declare victory today. But, the fact of the matter is, we are up absolutely up with a significant number in Lake County. We are up in LaPorte County. There is a technical snafu in Porter County that will not get the results today, possibly not until tomorrow, so we are cautiously optimistic. We are very, very confident that we will be successful,” Mrvan said.

Mrvan said his victory is a win for union workers as well as women because he plans to work to protect reproductive rights. His reelection also would be a win for senior citizens because he would preserve Social Security and Medicare.

Mrvan said he started his day at 5:30 a.m. visiting polling locations in Michigan City. He made it through to Hammond, where he visited polls with his father, former State Sen. Frank Mrvan.

Mrvan said he voted Tuesday around 10 a.m. with his family at the Lincoln Center in Highland.

Niemeyer gathered with supporters at Avenue 912 in Griffith Tuesday night. He said it felt great that the journey to Election Day was over.

“I feel good about what we did in our campaign. We did everything we could. I don’t think there’s a single candidate that worked harder,” Niemeyer said. “It was all about what voters show up. This is what it’s about for us. We’re going to find that out here soon.”

Niemeyer said he spent Tuesday visiting the polls from LaPorte County through Lake County.

“The people we spoke to, it was very positive,” Niemeyer said.

Mrvan, 55, is seeking reelection to serve a third term in Congress. If reelected, he said he’d like to continue to bring federal dollars to support and improve public safety, fight for reproductive health care access, and bring projects, like the South Shore double tracking, to the region.

“Those are things that are worth fighting for, and have inspired me to be able to make a difference in our community,” Mrvan previously said.

Niemeyer, 48, said he ran for office to use his blue- collar worker background, as a family business owner and truck driver, and political experience, as Lake County Republican Party chairman and councilman, to create a different approach to addressing financial issues that have “crushed the middle class.”

When it comes to the economy, Mrvan said he would support more pieces of legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which lowered the cost of various medications and lowered energy costs through investment in solar power and wind alternatives.

Niemeyer said he would address inflation and the economy by ensuring that Congress follows its budgetary process, which includes 12 appropriations bills, in a timely manner, which Congress hasn’t done since 1997.

When it comes to securing the southern U.S. border, Mrvan said he would support the Border Act of 2024, which wasn’t brought forward to a vote early this year because former President Donald Trump asked his allies in Congress to stop it.

The Border Act of 2024 would increase the number of Border Patrol agents and asylum judges and increase security in the ports, Mrvan said.

Niemeyer said he supports parts of the 2024 bill that increase Border Patrol and security measures, but he does not support sections that he said codify catch-and- release.

“It think there’s got to be a balance to the process here, and some common sense,” Niemeyer previously said. “It is a very nuanced issue because there’s so many different sets of circumstances from people around the world that want to emigrate here. But, we have had in the past a system that worked, and I believe we can have a system that works once again.”

On abortion, Mrvan said he would support enshrining into law the protections under Roe v. Wade, which for nearly 50 years secured the right to have an abortion, into law.

Niemeyer said the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, “was not ruling on abortion as much as it was the constitutionality,” though the ruling found that the Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion.

Niemeyer said he would not support a federal ban or protection on abortion because he believes both scenarios would have a difficult “constitutional test.”

“In both cases, you have to refer to the Constitution, and the case law that’s currently prevailing in the land says it’s the state’s right to legislate,” Niemeyer said.

Niemeyer said he does not support Indiana’s near- total ban on abortion “as it is written due to the multitude of unique circumstances which can arise during pregnancy.”

akukulka@chicagotribune.com