Jeff Larson had a commanding leading late Tuesday in his bid to run against long-term incumbent District 10 state Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, in November.
Larson faced opposition from Manuel Maldonado for the Republican nomination. Moseley was unopposed Tuesday.
“Tonight has been kind of shocking, because it has been such a pivotal point in Porter County’s history,” Larson said.
“It’s no endorsement of me. It’s voter apathy that’s hurting us,” Larson said. “I really encourage people to get involved and get information about the candidates.”
“In the fall, it’s going to hopefully be a better turnout,” Larson said. “I want more people involved, because that always makes us better people.”
In preliminary election returns Tuesday night, Larson had 74.75% of the vote. Election results will be certified on May 17.
During the primary campaign, Larson questioned whether Moseley has built the relationships necessary to help move the 10th District forward.
“I know he’s looked out for labor and done some things like that, but there’s just not been a huge initiative to get a lot of things we need accomplished up here done,” Larson said.
“I feel like we’ve kind of run into a stagnant situation, kind of a brick wall, with the political parties,” Larson said. “I’ve never been a hardline party guy, but the problem with what we’ve got going on now is that we our community is lacking in getting things accomplished because the controlling party downstate doesn’t really do business with the other side. You can see that on a national level, and you can see it now locally, that we’re having a lot of trouble working together.”
“I think that I’m kind of a middle-of-the-road guy, so I thought I could take my perspective down there and since I had to choose a party I ended up as a Republican. I am a little more conservative probably than my opponent,” he said.
Larson is concerned about suicide and drug use. “As a teacher, I had several students that committed suicide in my tenure, and I think of that security for our community awareness of the possible drug use that’s coming from outside our community,” he said.
Education is also a priority for him. “I was a teacher, so I really feel strongly about compensating teachers, that we do it fairly where we initiate the base wage and how do we arrive at that and then how do we compensate those that have given their entire life to service,” Larson said. “I think there’s a huge injustice on how we do that, so I’d like to fix that.”
Larson said he is concerned about making sure veterans’ needs are met. “We have a lot of veterans that serve in this community, a lot of individuals that are overlooked or need services. In my past have hired several that have struggled with PTSD. We just don’t care for them enough,” he said.
Larson has previously run for state senator. He has served as a Porter County Council member, including as vice president, and as a township trustee.
“I got my motivation to get into politics from my grandfather, who served many terms on the Chesterton Town Council,” Larson said. “He always told me to get involved in my community so I’ve kind of taken that to heart.”
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
