Gary voters braved intermittent rain showers on primary day to cast their ballots in several key races.
This year’s primary features several contested races in which voters will choose the Democratic and Republican candidates for November’s general election. Notable among these are Statehouse races and the election for Lake County Coroner.
Capital B Gary reporters sprawled out across the city, visiting polling stations to provide live updates and capture the essence of this democratic process in real time.
West Side High School
Voters of multiple generations trickled into the West Side Theater Guild Tuesday morning to place their votes in the 2024 primary.
Gary resident Cordella McGee arrived shortly after 8 a.m.
“It’s important to vote because we have to get out here and let our voices be heard,” McGee told Capital B Gary. “People say it really doesn’t matter, but it does.”
McGee didn’t come alone.
Accompanying her and experiencing his first voting experience was her 18-year-old son, Cordelle.
“It’s important for him to vote because of his grandparents, great-grandparents, and people who fought for these rights,” McGee said. “And they’re trying to take these rights from us.”
On Tuesday morning, 60-year-old campaign volunteer Linden Turner sat in front of West Side, directing voters to the correct entrance for voting.
Over the years, Turner has had a front seat on election days in Gary.
“In the ’70s my father was the precinct committeeman of this area. I’ve been doing this since I was 15; I turn 61 this year,” Turner told Capital B Gary.
Turner admitted that he has low expectations for high voter turnout.
“Today it may top out at 116, which is sad because there are over 500 homes in this precinct,” Turner said.
“The biggest turnout we ever had was for [former President Barack] Obama. We had to line people down the aisles [of the auditorium] to make room.”
Fire Station #13, Black Oak
Jane, who declined to give her last name, showed up at Fire Station #13 in the Black Oak neighborhood shortly before a brief 9 a.m. downpour, clad in a white T-shirt that stated very simply her plans for the day: “Vote”
“We’re in a very tense situation right now in terms of our national politics,” the 25-year-old told Capital B Gary. “It feels uneasy. Our votes are particularly important because it’s the only form of representation individuals have.”
Concord Commons
On a rainy Tuesday morning, LaDonna Thorpe, 53, said she’s excited to get her vote out and voice heard at the voting booth at Concord Commons apartment complex. For the state senator race, she said she’s casting her vote for District 3 candidate Mark Spencer.
“I’m definitely supporting Mark Spencer, so I’m looking forward to get him in there because I’ve seen him do some great work for the city, period. And so I know he’ll do great work in higher positions.”
Thorpe said she hopes to see more positive developments in her city.
“I definitely want to see Gary beautified and use the assets that it has,” she said. “We have plenty of assets, and we’ve been waiting. I just want to see that come to fruition.”
Woodlake Village Apartments, Miller
As the sun broke through the clouds on an otherwise rainy morning, Naquan Jackson, 40, pulled up to the Woodlake Village apartments polling station, eager to see the impact of his vote in today’s local elections.
“Voting is for us,” he said. “Voting is for the people. So if you want change, you gotta vote for it.”
Jackson, a Gary native, wants to see “a collective effort” to change the environment and the community, including cleaner parks, torn-down abandoned homes, and paved potholes.
“Being from Gary growing up, this is the only thing you knew. So it’s certain things that you didn’t know were supposed to be different until you leave,” he said. “Then as you get older, you learn, we’re just not given the same opportunity as other people, other places.”
Looking ahead, Jackson said he would continue to support the candidates he voted for and urged others to keep voting.
“You got to just take the leap of faith and just hope the candidate do what they say they’re gonna do, honestly, and then do your part as a productive member of society and our community,” he said. “Everybody got to play a part.”
On her 50th birthday, Qurkeysha Johnson and her husband, Tommy, 51, headed to Woodlake Village to cast their votes.
“We want to see better jobs. Better community. Better help for our children in Gary, Indiana,” Tommy said. “Just like, you know, a better look on the city as a whole as far as building Gary back up. I’m all into that.”
Booker T. Martin Education Center, Glen Park East
The Booker T. Martin Education Center was a convenient location for John Coleman to cast his vote. The 53-year-old Gary resident, who lives around the corner from the center, is adamant about voting in every election. He said he doesn’t place more importance on national versus local races, but he is particularly interested in the presidential race.
“Everything is riding on this one. … The political spectrum as a whole in our country is so divided on so many different things,” he said.
“You just have to get out here and say that you did your part.”
For young voters who aren’t feeling motivated to go to the polls, Coleman offered a piece of advice: “There’s a bigger world than just where you are. The scope of your vision has to be bigger than where you are. Understand what’s going on. … Change is one of the only things that’s going to happen whether you want it to or not.”
Tolleston Park Pavilion
In between spells of rain, voters filtered in and out of Tolleston Park Pavilion in the city’s 3rd District. Councilwoman Mary Brown sat shielded from the rain in her SUV as she watched attentively. Brown, a 30-year veteran of Gary’s Common Council, highlighted the importance of the state Senate seat vacated by Mayor Eddie Melton.
“We have to win this seat back,” she said. “We can’t let them have it. We’ve had that seat for years since the early [1970s], and we have to keep it,” Brown told Capital B Gary. “Rudy Clay was the first. Then Katie Hall beat him. Then Carolyn [Brown Mosby]. Then it was Earline Rogers. Then Eddie Melton. And we’re trying to get it back,” Brown said.
Trinity Baptist Church
Even in the midst of another downpour, residents continued to make their way inside Trinity Baptist Church to cast a ballot.
For one voter, Albert Bell, the experience was especially memorable.
Outside the church, Bell’s mother captured a quick photo of him to commemorate the high schooler’s first time voting.
“It felt great to vote for the very first time, but I will be voting more in the future, especially for our upcoming presidential election,” he said. His 25-year-old sister Brittany Bell was also there to vote, and her focus was on the local races.
“What you do in your own state … that determines what they do at the White House,” she said.
To her, Gary’s biggest concerns are abandoned houses, potholes, and crime, though she admits the latter affect many places. Ultimately, she just wants to see change in the city she loves.
“219 stand strong.”
Gary Public Library, Dowtown
Darrell Head is a self-described “conscious Black man.” As an HBCU graduate and Gary native, he said he understands politics “from the standpoint of ‘We need to vote.’”
The importance of voting stems from his ancestors’ efforts to secure this right. Today, he feels it’s even more critical given recent voter suppression moves that have impacted predominantly Black communities.
Primary concerns for the 66-year-old are “always the economy, education, and Social Security.” Although he’s watching all the local, statewide, and national races, he’s personally pushing for representatives from Gary to win seats.
This story has been updated.