IN-01: Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott is once again contemplating a Democratic primary bid against longtime Rep. Pete Visclosky in Indiana’s safely blue 1st Congressional District.
News of McDermott’s interest in this northwestern Indiana seat first surfaced last week when he announced on social media that Visclosky’s campaign had requested extensive public records from city hall, including information about the mayor’s salary, travel reimbursements, and personal financial disclosures. McDermott told The Times of Northwest Indiana that he believed the congressman was trying to intimidate him for criticizing Visclosky for supporting an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump.
Those comments came at the start of the month when McDermott argued that the Senate would keep Trump in office, and, “I don't think the country, as badly divided as we are, is ready to go through a year of impeachment and a removal trial.” McDermott continued, “I think we're going to beat him in 2020 anyway. Let's embarrass the guy, censure him and then kick his butt in 2020.”
McDermott also insisted that Visclosky’s support for impeachment could cost the region federal funding for a commuter rail extension to Chicago, saying, “We're asking for a lot from the federal government in Congressional District 1 right now, and if we lose this train over this decision I think it's going to be unforgivable.” He added, “Is it really worth it if we think the ultimate result is going to be that the Senate is going to do nothing anyway?” McDermott instead advocated a censure resolution against Trump.
While McDermott said last week that Visclosky was trying to scare him into silence, he insisted that he was only focused on winning re-election this November and helping local Democratic candidates. However, he continued, “I'll deal with the congressman's stuff, and the situation with me and Pete Visclosky, after Nov. 5.”
McDermott also added, “I am interested in, one day, moving up the ladder. I've always been interested in state politics, and now I'm very interested in what's going on in Washington, D.C.” While McDermott didn’t mention any office and added, “Heck, I might even run for president,” Howey Politics writes that he told them he was indeed considering running against Visclosky.
McDermott may indeed be serious about taking on Visclosky, who was first elected to the House in 1984, but this isn’t the first time he’s considered challenging him. Back in November of 2015 McDermott, after months of flirting with running for governor or for Senate, said that he wouldn’t seek a statewide office, but he pointedly did not rule out challenging Visclosky.
McDermott also said four years ago that he believed Visclosky was retaliating against him. Back then, the mayor pointed to Lake County Democratic Party chair John Buncich’s decision to remove a McDermott ally from the county election board, a move that Buncich said had nothing to do with the congressional race. However, we learned that McDermott wouldn’t run a few months later when the candidate filing deadline passed and the mayor didn’t send in any paperwork to get on the ballot.
If McDermott does run this time, he would be in for a very difficult race. McDermott is a self-described moderate, and his comments opposing impeachment likely won’t play well with Democratic voters. Indiana’s May congressional primary will take place on the same day as its Democratic presidential contest, which will likely bring voters to the polls who are only interested in the White House race and are inclined to vote for familiar names like Visclosky’s down the ballot. (McDermott’s Hammond constituency is the largest city in the district, but it still only makes up about 10% of the seat.)
McDermott would also need to quickly raise money to go on TV in this seat, which is entirely in the expensive Chicago media market. Visclosky ended September with $515,000 in the bank, which is hardly overwhelming for an incumbent, but it does give him a large head start.