THE CHOICE
There are three Republicans on the IN-01 ballot.
On Tuesday, May 5, Republican primary voters in Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties pick the nominee who will face Frank Mrvan in November. The choice is not abstract. It is between three specific candidates with three specific records and three different theories of how this seat gets won.
Barb Regnitz
Sitting Porter County Commissioner.
Loaned her own campaign roughly $1.5 million.
Endorsed by Rep. Yakym (IN-02) and Rep. Houchin (IN-09) — both outside IN-01.
Part of the local political establishment that presides over current conditions.
The self-funded establishment lane.
Ben Ruiz
East Chicago small-business owner.
Ran in this same primary in 2024 and finished behind Niemeyer and Leyva.
Running on a 20-year immigration moratorium and national populist rhetoric.
Has run before. Has not broken through.
The narrow-ideology lane.
Jim Schenke
U.S. Army veteran.
Republican precinct committeeman and Indiana State GOP convention delegate.
Funded by neighbors who give as little as $25 at a time.
Running on steel jobs, the cost of utilities and groceries, and safer streets.
The Region-first, working-family fighter lane.
Why Jim Wins in November.
Frank Mrvan won this seat in 2024 by about six points after holding it by five in 2022. The trend is in the Republican Party's direction — but only with a nominee who can talk to Lake County union households, not just Porter County professionals.
A self-funded county commissioner has not been tested in a general election. Jim's contrast against Mrvan in November is sharper because his contrast against Regnitz in May is sharper.
A candidate who has run before and lost will run into the same ceiling. Mrvan's people will recognize the playbook from 2024.
An Army veteran who can sit at a kitchen table in Hammond and talk about steel jobs is the version of this nominee Mrvan does not have an answer for. That is the candidate Jim is running to be.
PROVEN. ENDORSED. READY.
