FIRST ON FOX: A Republican seeking to flip a House seat from blue to red in Indiana says his Democratic rival has abandoned his district’s “hardworking” voters and aligned himself with “the far left” and the “political machine of DC” after joining Congress more than three years ago. years ago.
Randy Niemeyer, the Republican candidate to represent Indiana’s 1st Congressional District in the House, will face Democratic incumbent Rep. Frank Mrvan in the state’s general election later this year.
“Currently, Frank Mrvan’s voting record relates more to the far left than to these working-class, middle-class, conservative-natured people in his district. He hasn’t been representative of that for long,” Niemeyer told Fox News Digital. . In an interview.
Mrvan’s voting record, according to Niemeyer, shows that the votes he gets in Washington do not align with the aspirations of those in the Hoosier State’s First District.
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Democratic Representative Frank Mrvan and his Republican rival Randy Niemeyer (Getty Images | Randy Niemeyer Campaign)
““Frank has really aligned himself with the D.C. political machine and has become very well entrenched in it and has forgotten that his district is not being represented right now by his votes as it should and can be,” she said.
Niemeyer also said he rarely sees Mrvan interacting with or listening to his constituents in the district, unless it’s for a public appearance or speaking event.
“If there’s a parade or an opportunity to speak somewhere, he always takes advantage of it. If there’s a ribbon cutting for some project that was funded by the infrastructure bill or the Inflation Reduction Act… he does too shows up to those things.” said of Mrvan. “But I don’t see it a lot or hear it a lot just interacting within the community and being places where people can listen and learn and make sure it’s connected to the grassroots and really boots on the ground that pay the taxes and pays the freight for this country.”
Mrvan won the congressional election in 2020, defeating his Republican rival, Mark Leyva, by nearly 53,000 votes. He was re-elected to office in the 2022 cycle, defeating Jennifer-Ruth Green by just over 12,000 votes.
Niemeyer previously served for 12 years, 10 of them as president, on the Cedar Lake City Council. That experience, along with the lessons he learned from it, is something he often reflects on as he seeks to gain the trust and support of voters ahead of the general election.
“I think one of the most important things we can do in government service goes back to my 16 years in local government, where we are really connected to the people and making sure that the people that we represent, the work that we do, It’s really in his name,” he said.
Niemeyer, who defeated his Republican rivals in the state’s May 7 primary election, has spent his entire life in northwest Indiana and has been hauling milk for his family’s transportation business for nearly 30 years.
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Randy Niemeyer speaks to supporters at an event in Highland, Indiana, on January 19, 2024.
Referring to his education, his work ethic and his combined 16 years of experience in local government, Niemeyer said he shares “many of the same struggles” those in his district have.
“I have driven three million miles behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer. I run a small business. I have lived paycheck to paycheck. The business I run operates on low or no margins at times. I have college debt that I will pay for my daughter “, said. “We have those similar life experiences.”
“I still drive a truck,” he added. “I like to give people the perspective that I’m working with them. I’m sweating with them. We’re doing the manual labor. We’re helping to feed this country and that perspective, I think, separates me from Frank, who has been on the far-left side of his party most of the time.
Although he has family members who have experience in public service, Niemeyer said his biggest influence in posing a challenge to Mrvan comes from an individual “who never had his name on any campaign signs.”
“My grandmother worked for 35 years in a local school cafeteria and passed away a year after retiring due to cancer,” recalled Niemeyer, who was 16 at the time of her death. “We had over 1,100 people come through the line at multiple wakes we had for her who told similar stories of how she would take money out of her own purse and put it in the cash register so that a child could have a hot meal who could not. have a hot meal at home.”
Representative Frank Mrvan first won congressional elections in 2020. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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“Those people told me these stories and they really inspired in me a real understanding of what true public service means,” he added.
Niemeyer will face Mrvan, as well as three independent candidates, in the November 5 general election.
