Hobart’s David Vinzant wins caucus to replace Eddie Melton in state Senate

After an ineligible committee person resulted in a re-vote, former Hobart City Councilman David Vinzant was narrowly selected in a Democratic Party caucus to fill the vacant 3rd District state Senate seat on Wednesday. He will join the state Senate for the start of the 2024 state legislative session on Monday.

Vinzant narrowly defeated Gary City Councilman Mark Spencer, D-At Large, a veteran Gary teacher and Melton’s hand-picked successor, with 34 votes to Spencer’s 32. No other candidates filed to run.

The 3rd District encompasses parts of Gary, Merrillville, Hobart and Lake Station. The state Senate seat was previously held by new Gary Mayor Eddie Melton, who resigned from the office after his victory in the November mayoral general election and ahead of his Dec. 30 inauguration date.

Because Melton held a state office, the caucus to replace him was the responsibility of state Democratic Party chair Mike Schmuhl, who then designated Lake County Democratic Party chair Jim Wieser to serve as chair of the caucus.

Vinzant’s victory came after the caucus process hit a snag; the first vote had to be scrapped after it was discovered that an ineligible committee person had cast a ballot. To participate in the caucus, an appointed precinct committee person must have been appointed at least 30 days before the date the office vacancy occurred, or Nov. 1. The committee member in question, Wieser said, had been appointed after that deadline.

When Wieser announced the need for a second vote, three committee members who had participated in the first vote had already left Merrillville’s Dean and Barbara White Community Center. All three were contacted, Wieser said, but they said that they would not be returning. The second vote was conducted with the remaining 66 eligible committee members.

In his remarks before the first vote, Vinzant touted his time as a member of the Hobart City Council, where he represented the city’s 4th District for 16 years, as well as his experience as the founder of a local software company. As councilman, Vinzant worked to secure passage of Indiana legislation that allowed Hobart to obtain a long-term, no-interest loan from the state to help repay a hefty tax refund resulting from a successful property tax appeal by the city’s Southlake Mall.

“The new state senator’s job starts next Monday,” Vinzant said. “There’s no one who can learn the job in the next five days, but the right person with the right experience should be able to hit the job running.”

Spencer, who has served on the Gary Common Council since October, has comparatively little legislative experience. He said, however, that his experience as a teacher and school administrator has given him an array of skills, from balancing budgets to the “diplomacy” necessary to navigate relationships with students, that would be useful in Indianapolis.

Vinzant is the first non-Gary resident to hold the 3rd District state Senate seat since Rudy Clay, who would go on to be elected Gary Mayor, was elected to the office in 1972. Roughly half of the precincts in the 3rd District are in the city.

The Indiana Democratic Party’s agenda for the 2024 legislative session, which ceremonially launched with Organization Day on Nov. 21, is largely set.

“I need to go hunt through what’s out there in the way of legislation and find stuff that will be a particular importance to our area,” Vinzant told reporters, adding that he intends to build on the success of a Melton-authored bill that passed last year which aims to create a Lake County convention center and

Spencer told the Post-Tribune that he plans to run for Vinzant’s seat in the Democratic primary election that will be held in May.