Indiana Senate District 10: David Niezgodski wins primary despite harassment accusation
SOUTH BEND — State Sen. David Niezgodski on Tuesday won his bid for the Democratic nomination against challenger Tim Swager, the sitting St. Joseph County treasurer who in recent weeks had seized on allegations of sexual harassment made against his opponent.
Vying for his third term in Indiana State Senate District 10, which encompasses South Bend and western St. Joseph County, Niezgodski won 3,711 votes while Swager won 2,263, according to an unofficial count released Tuesday night. That's good for about 62% of the vote.
Niezgodski, 63, is unopposed by any Republican ahead of the general election this November, though the party does have an opportunity to slate a candidate to face him.
Swager, who's served as county treasurer since January 2021, previously owned a small communications business and worked as a Democratic aide in the U.S. House of Representatives for three years. A 36-year-old millennial, Swager tried to appeal to voters with his support for progressive causes like expanding reproductive freedom and health care for lower-income people.
The Tribune couldn't reach Swager for comment Tuesday night.
The race heated up in mid-April, when The Indianapolis Star and The South Bend Tribune, both members of the USA TODAY Network, published a story detailing sexual harassment allegations against Niezgodski dating back to 2017.
Many top local Democrats, including South Bend Mayor James Mueller and State Rep. Maureen Bauer, stuck behind Niezgodski while others expressed reservations about how the party could be taken seriously on women's issues if the senator stayed in office. His opponent sent a barrage of campaign mailers and text messages seizing on the allegations, saying he would serve as an ally for women in contrast to Niezgodski.
A former office assistant at Niezgodski Plumbing of South Bend said in a September 2017 complaint to the Indiana Civil Rights Commission that she quit her job that June to get away from the senator, citing romantic advances he made toward her in voicemails and uninvited appearances at her home. At the time, the employee was a 33-year-old single mother while Niezgodski was a 56-year-old state senator married to his current wife, Sheila.
Two days after she quit, the accuser's father said, he witnessed Niezgodski arrive at his daughter's home and enter when she wasn't inside. The father says he grabbed his weapon and accosted Niezgodski but didn't call the police.
Niezgodski's company settled with the former employee for $8,000 on the condition that neither he nor his accuser could publicly discuss the case. In his only public comments about the story, he said he wouldn't violate that agreement. A spokesperson did not answer whether Niezgodski would agree to release his accuser from the non-disclosure agreement.
“Seven years ago, my wife and I were trying to keep a valued employee with whom we had a personal friendship at our family business and I should have handled matters in a better way," Niezgodski said in part in a statement. "In retrospect, I regret how I acted seven years ago and take full responsibility for causing any pain or discomfort."
Niezgodski served 10 years as state representative of House District 7 before he was elected to the state senate in 2016. He's the fourth generation to manage his family's plumbing business. which was founded in 1922.
He rebuffed a primary challenge in 2020, as well, from Democrat Alex Bowman. That year, he won roughly 63% of the vote, with the final tally at 7,785 to 4,463. He ran unopposed in the general election.
Niezgodski said his plans for upcoming legislative sessions include reforming Indiana's lax laws governing landlords, primarily by giving tenants the right to withhold rent money when their home is uninhabitable and their property owner won't make repairs. He says a home fire on South Bend's west side that killed six children and tenants who lived without heat at Cedar Glen Apartment Complex drew his attention to the longstanding issue.
Niezgodski also says he intends to support stronger regulations supporting Indiana's wetlands and expansions of women's reproductive freedom. In this year's legislative session, he voted for a bill that requires hospitals operating a maternity unit to ensure that low-income women eligible for Medicaid insurance are offered long-acting birth control before being discharged.
"My sincerest thanks to my constituents who have allowed me to serve this community that my family has been a part of for over a hundred years," Niezgodski said in a statement Tuesday. "Thank you to my labor brothers and sisters, for continuing to have my back just as I have always had yours down state."
Email Tribune staff writer Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: David Niezgodski wins South Bend state senate race
