Highland Dems unanimous in vote for new council candidate
The Highland Democratic Party unanimously voted in newcomer Martin Del Rio for a vacant November ballot spot with the idea to inject young blood into the town’s leadership.
The party voted 15-0 to support Martin Del Rio, 32, a veteran and East Chicago native, during a caucus held Tuesday evening at the Wicker Park Clubhouse. Del Rio will fill the spot previously held by Dan Vassar, who’s dropped out of the race to spend more time with his family but will serve out the remainder of his term.
When asked why he decided to run, Del Rio said growing up in East Chicago contributed to his desire to serve his community.
“Volunteering is a big thing there, and I volunteered for (East Chicago) by joining the service,” Del Rio said. “But my wife and I moved here three years ago, and now that I have a wife and son, I want to have a stake in my community.
“I know I’m not changing the world (by running for Town Council), but when my son asks me why I did, I want to be able to tell him that I jumped in wherever I could.”
Lake County Democratic Chairman Jim Wieser added that Del Rio joins a considerably younger crop of candidates who’ve already made headway in other municipal and state entities.
“I’m pretty proud of our last election,” Wieser said. “Look what happened in Hammond: Katrina Alexander and Barry Tyler (Jr.) both beat long-term incumbents, and the same thing happened in Gary with Tai Adkins and Will Godwin. And now, we have Zack Bryan in Crown Point for at large City Council, plus Chris Chyung and Ragen Hatcher in the General Assembly.
“What I see in Highland with Martin is a continuation of adding to the character and quality of an already terrific board.”
For Toya Smith, the town’s only African-American precinct committeewoman, adding Del Rio to the ballot shows the town’s commitment to diversity.
“(Highland Democratic Party Chairwoman) Marsha (Novak) didn’t want (the nominee) to be another older white man. It feels good to be here and witness this change,” Smith said.
Town Councilman Mark Herak, D-2nd, said Del Rio passed with flying colors the grilling through which he, Wagner and Councilman Bernie Zemen, D-1st, put him.
Even though he’ll have big shoes to fill coming after the Vassar name, Herak said he and the party are ready to support Del Rio wholeheartedly.
“When Dan quit, the GOP thought we were afraid we weren’t going to have a good candidate. We welcome you to the team,” Herak said.