Given the GOP’s spectacular implosion, we are making an extra push to highlight Democratic House candidates in races worth watching. We sent out the following questions to Indiana's Lynn Coleman, who is running for the state’s 2nd Congressional District, and here’s what the campaign sent back, starting with his biography.
Lynn was born and raised in South Bend. After graduating from Washington High School and after a short stint building Army trucks at the AM General Plant, alongside his mother, he enrolled in classes at Indiana University South Bend and later became a South Bend police officer. He served in the Police Department for 23 years, working in uniform patrol, gang crime and founding a juvenile division. After retiring as an Assistant Chief from SBPD, Lynn went to work for Mayor Steve Luecke; he served as Deputy Mayor where he worked on youth issues, served as the liaison to public safety and coordinated the Mayor’s neighborhood task force. He now works at Memorial Hospital as a community liaison with trauma services in the violence prevention program.
Kerry Eleveld: What about your biography makes you uniquely suited to represent your district?
Lynn Coleman: Too many of our representatives in Congress got into politics early, and stayed in politics for the wrong reasons. My experience working on the assembly line at AM General, as a beat cop and assistant chief with the South Bend Police Department, and working in the healthcare system with a community violence group represents the kinds of opportunities that are not typical to our current representatives, and allow me to speak from a place that is firmly rooted in the experiences of the people and communities that I am representing.
KE: What do you see as the key to your electoral victory?
Coleman: Like many Democrats, the key to this election, and every other successful campaign or movement, is turn out. We can attend every meet and greet in the district, shake every hand and debate every issue, but if those folks don't get out and vote, then we'll have a very tough time. Luckily, I believe that the voters of the district have had enough of partisan politics, and the conversations I've had with voters lead me to believe that the time has come for some real leadership, and not the illusion of leadership.
KE: What's your opponent's biggest Achilles heel?
Coleman: Rep. Walorski is inaccessible and unavailable to most of her constituents. This is represented in a number ways, most obviously in her absence from the campaign trail this cycle. She hasn't agreed to any real debates to discuss the many issues at stake in this election, nor has she been present at any community events for a dialogue with the public. There comes a time in which these absences can't go unnoticed any longer—this election is such a time.
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Election Day is fast approaching, and we need all hands on deck! With the PCCC and Daily Kos, no matter where you live, you can call key voters in districts where progressive Democrats are in tight races. Click here to get started.