Two hours before I sat down to write this, the St. Joseph County Democratic Party posted a Facebook message that opened with the mourning of two fallen U.S. service members and closed with a campaign endorsement for Jamee Decio.
Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York. Rampersad was killed at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Swinton died at Erbil Air Base in Iraq. The St. Joseph County Democratic Party’s post swiftly pivoted from mourning the soldiers to litigating the number of nights the U.S. military has bombed Iran, the price of crude oil, and Rep. Rudy Yakym’s votes against measures to limit U.S. military operations in Iran. The post ended with these words: “Vote Decio For Congress.”
Three days earlier, the same St. Joseph County Democratic Party Facebook page had done the same thing. 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas. Killed at the same base. The St. Joseph County Democratic Party’s post pivoted from mourning to what it called Trump’s “illegal, unnecessary war with Iran,” to Yakym’s War Powers votes.
None of this is new. I wrote about their template in January.
Seven hours after a federal agent shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, St. Joseph County Democratic Party Chair Donald Westerhausen sent an email to supporters. The subject line read, “ICE murders another U.S. citizen.” Westerhausen’s message declared Pretti’s death a murder before official findings had been released. It included the death of Renee Good, the detention of a five-year-old in Texas, and made racial profiling allegations against off-duty Minnesota officers. Then it widened to Trump, Todd Young, Jim Banks, and Rudy Yakym. Then to local Republicans. At the bottom, it asked for money for Amy Cressy and Scott Ruszkowski.
That was six months ago. The template has not changed.
– The dead are named at the top.
– A national target gets worked through the body.
– A local candidate gets promoted at the bottom.
The Substack the St. Joseph County Democratic Party launched to speak to St. Joseph County is roughly eight months old. In that time its most-covered subjects have been Donald Trump, Rudy Yakym, Jim Banks, Todd Young, Mike Braun, Micah Beckwith, Todd Rokita, Diego Morales, and Turning Point USA. Not one of those individuals holds an office exclusive to St. Joseph County.
When the St. Joseph County Democratic Party does write about our county, it briefly mentions the same six or seven names. The framing does not change. Each of them is introduced with a MAGA prefix before their actual local role.
When a parent tries to understand a school board decision, mocking the secretary of state’s Guatemalan nationality is not the answer. The price of crude oil at the Strait of Hormuz should have no bearing on how we run our government in St. Joseph County. The residents in New Carlisle who fought off a second data center did not need Trump or MAGA to be the reason their cause mattered.
And the family of Sgt. Angel Rampersad, killed just days ago, did not need her name repurposed as a setup line for Decio’s congressional endorsement.
The St. Joseph County Democratic Party is entitled to oppose the war, criticize Yakym’s votes, and support Decio. It did not need to use the names and photographs of recently killed service members to do any of those things.
Rampersad was 28. Her death is not a talking point the St. Joseph County Democratic Party can use to promote a candidate. It is not a segue. It is not a rung on the ladder from death to Trump to Yakym to Decio.
Sgt. Swinton was 30. Pvt. Gonzales was 19. 1st Lt. Feehan was 25. Alex Pretti was 37. Renee Good was 37.
None of them lived here. All of them were recruited into political messaging by a county party whose stated purpose is to speak to St. Joseph County.
Enough.
If the St. Joseph County Democratic Party wants to run a national politics blog, it can rename itself, remove St. Joseph County from the letterhead, and have at it.
If it wants to be a county party, it needs to start acting like one.
That means talking to the county, about the county, to the people who live here, without a Trump quote at the top of every post and a candidate endorsement at the bottom of every death.
I am asking plainly. Not because I disagree with the party’s national politics. Not because I want it to stop advocating. Not because the causes they lift up do not matter.
Because Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, a 19-year-old soldier from Carrollton, Texas, is not a campaign vehicle.
Logan Foster
Logan Foster is the founder and editor of Redress South Bend, an independent news outlet covering local government, courts, and public institutions in South Bend and St. Joseph County, Indiana. He reports from primary documents: public records requests, court filings, state audit reports, and campaign finance disclosures. His reporting has examined city and school district payments made without competitive bidding, school board spending, and the records of candidates in county races. Redress South Bend obtained the South Bend Police Department's ShotSpotter coverage map after the department initially denied public access. The outlet is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Online News Association. Reach him at info@redresssouthbend.com
