Democratic U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan was reelected to a fourth term Tuesday, beating Republican Barb Regnitz and keeping Northwest Indiana’s congressional seat in Democratic hands for another two years.
“Tonight, our campaign was victorious, and I am deeply honored to have earned the continued trust of the people of Indiana’s 1st Congressional District,” Mrvan said in a statement.
The win gives Mrvan, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, another term deciding how federal money flows to the region. This includes South Shore line funding, the Gary/Chicago airport, Medicare dollars for hospitals like Methodist, and disaster relief after the August derecho. His victory comes on a night when Democrats reclaimed control of Congress.
Mrvan’s win also means Republicans again fell short of capturing a seat their party hasn’t held in a century and recently failed in attempting to redistrict.
Regnitz, a Porter County commissioner and former United Airlines software engineer and financial planner, ran with President Donald Trump’s endorsement and backing from House Speaker Mike Johnson. The National Republican Congressional Committee added her to its MAGA Majority program in July. She won a three-way Republican primary in May with 45.8% of the vote.
The race came less than a year after Indiana lawmakers rejected Trump’s push to redraw the state’s congressional map mid-decade. The effort aimed to unseat Mrvan and Indianapolis Democrat Andre Carson, the state’s only Black congressional representative. The Indiana Senate voted down the plan 31-19 last November, with 21 Republicans joining 10 Democrats.
A draft map would have stretched the 1st District more than 100 miles southeast into more rural Wabash County. Trump would have carried that district by about 12 points. Vice President Kamala Harris carried the current map by less than a point in 2024, down from Joe Biden’s near 8-point margin in 2020.
The failed redistricting attempt changed the candidate field. Jennifer-Ruth Green, who came within roughly 5 points of defeating Mrvan in 2022, dropped out in February. She said the district “remains an extremely difficult seat for a Republican to compete in and win.”
Mrvan was first elected in 2020, beating Republican Mark Leyva 57% to 40% in the contest to replace retiring Rep. Pete Visclosky. He beat Green by 12,114 votes in 2022 and Randy Niemeyer 53.4% to 45% in 2024.
Before entering Congress, Mrvan served as the North Township trustee. His father, Frank Mrvan, served in the Indiana Senate for more than four decades. In May, he beat former Gary Parks Director and Councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade in the Democratic primary with 80.2% of the vote.
