The race for Lake County Coroner presents a contrast in candidates — Democrat David Pastrick is seeking election to his fourth term, while Republican Andrew Delano is hoping to be elected to his first office.
For a young Republican like Delano, running for a county-wide office — and against Pastrick — is an opportunity to represent his party when he believes no one else will.
The 32-year-old Gary resident, real estate investor and contractor, previously ran for mayor of Gary. He now faces an admittedly uphill challenge in unseating Pastrick, who is seeking a second term, a second time around, having first been elected Lake County Coroner in 2002. If elected to another term, Pastrick could not run for that office for another four years due to term limits.
Indicating some disinclination over being a candidate for public office, Delano said, “Somebody needed to step up and run (for coroner), and it was it was kind of the same thing with running for mayor. I’ll be honest; I didn’t really want to run. I felt like I needed to because nobody else was doing it. I’d have been happy throwing my support behind somebody else (for mayor).”
Pastrick, 64, believes he has transformed the Lake County Coroner’s Office into a modern, efficient and scientifically assured operation, including 12 full-time investigators and eight part-time staff and nearly all are state-certified medical death investigators.
It has, unfortunately, been a busy year for the coroner’s office, with the staff having handled more than 1,600 death investigations so far. Pastrick said he puts in 50-to-60-hour work weeks, including time as a funeral director, never knowing when he’ll be called to the scene of an undetermined death.
“That means a lot to me — certified death investigators that are properly trained and continue to receive additional training,” said Pastrick, who has earned his own certifications and continues studies in forensic sciences. “They have been trained with the coroner’s training board downstate and have to pass a test.”
– Original Credit: Andrew Delano
Delano acknowledged a likely learning curve if elected but believed that he would have time to study up and receive certifications during the 14 months prior to actually taking office in 2026. He said he would defer to the experience of the existing staff and not come in and make major changes. As coroner, we would endeavor to prevent death.
“One thing I think that’s definitely a problem in Lake County has been the influx of fentanyl,” Delano said. “I know that as a corner you’re kind of dealing with the problem after the fact. So, I’d like to take a more proactive approach to keep people away from questionable substances — so we don’t have to show up. There are so many overdose drug overdoses in Lake County and a lot of those are fentanyl-related.”
Pastrick said he wanted Lake County voters to know that they have modern and updated facilities with a professionally trained staff who offer compassion to members of the public for whom they may be the bearer of bad news. He noted the support of the Lake County Commissioners for its funding of “21st century” facilities.
“We have front-wheel drive Avengers, police pursuit SUVs, Durangos, and those types (of) vehicles,” Pastrick said. “You know, we want our staff to be safe 24/7 because we’re out on the streets, 24/7 in weather and other areas that might be hard to get to. We also have a new (body) removal truck. Most people are still familiar with the big van, and we still have that van. I purchased that in 2007, and we are still driving that. It’s in good shape.”
Pastrick said he and his deputies now have new digital photography equipment and have secured funding for new office computer equipment along with laptops for the vehicles. Also, new flooring suitable for conducting medical examinations inside the Lake County Morgue and Forensic Science Center has been a much welcome change.
There is now a second forensic pathologist on staff, which has helped ensure accurate and more timely death investigations, Pastrick said.
Pushing back on Lake County’s longtime Democratic hold, Delano castigated the county’s “corruption problem,” but said he didn’t necessarily mean the coroner’s office or Pastrick himself were corrupt.
Pastrick affirmed that he has been a dedicated public server who embraces technology, has a passion for his duties and looks forward to more advancements ahead for the coroner’s office.
Jim Masters is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
