Editor's note:

Today, May 5, we're profiling the four candidates for Indiana's Second District U.S. House seat, Republicans Jackie Walorski and Greg Andrews and Democrats Brendan Mullen and Dan Morrison.

The two winners in Tuesday's primary — Walorski and Mullen have the clear edge gauging by organization, funding and party support — advance to next November's general election.

Scroll to the end of the story for more info on the geography of the Second District.


ELKHART — His initial political inspiration came as a child in the 1960s, from the likes of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.

King's “‘I Have a Dream' speech on the Washington Mall at the Lincoln Monument was exciting even on the black and white TV screen,” District 2 U.S. House hopeful Dan Morrison, a Democrat, writes on his campaign website.

Since then he's seemingly drifted to the right. He's called himself a “Reagan Democrat” and “one-half Democrat and one-half Republican.”

Even so, Morrison maintains that government has a vital role in job creation — “a huge issue,” he says — recalling the Democratic New Deal programs of the 1930s meant to pull the United States out of the Great Depression. Recent federal government economic stimulus efforts may not have been as well thought out as they could have been, but that doesn't mean there's no place for them.

“If we need a role model, just look back to the 1930s,” he says on his website. In an interview, he adds that he has no problem with the government creating jobs “as long as they're productive.”

He also goes out of his way to defend the Social Security system. The system is expected to be solvent through 2037, he says, and should be taken off the table as political fodder.

Though his interest in politics dates to his youth, this is Morrison's first bid for public office. The Elkhart man, the married father of four, is regional sales manager for Trail Creek RV in Nappanee.

His war chest is small — zero, in fact, according to the Federal Election Commission. But that doesn't douse his enthusiasm.

He purposefully held off on the most intense campaigning until the four weeks before Tuesday's primary. “That's when our emphasis is going to be, in the home stretch,” he explains.

At the same time, he acknowledges the much bigger campaign war chest of Brendan Mullen, the other Democratic contender, but isn't deterred. “I think we've definitely got him beat on ideas,” he says.

In fact, he offers a barb, complaining that Mullen spends too much time discussing his days at West Point, where he was place-kicker for the Army football team. “That doesn't do anything for the people of the state or the country or the district,” says Morrison, who unsuccessfully sought a debate with Mullen.

Here are his views on some other topics:

• U.S. troops in Afghanistan ought to be brought home “as fast as possible,” preferably within a year, ahead of the current timeline.

“The United States can't force every country in the world to do the things the way we want them to,” he says. “We can't force them to think the way we do.”

• He thinks portions of the Patient Protecion and Affordable Care Act, currently facing a legal challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court, will be repealed in court. He also questions the expense of the controversial health care initiative.

But he indicates that he'll hold off on further judgement until after a formal court ruling.



Indiana's Second District

The Second District, located in north central Indiana, has been redrawn per the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau population count and the new boundaries take effect next year. Elkhart County, which has been divvied between the Second and Third districts, will now be entirely within the Second District.

The revamped district will also include St. Joseph, Starke, Marshall, Pulaski, Fulton, Miami and Wabash counties and parts of LaPorte and Kosciusko counties.

Joe Donnelly, a Democrat, currently represents the district, but he's running for the U.S. Senate this cycle.