Making politics a family business

There may be a rather historic phenomenon -- at least in modern times -- in this year's South Bend Common Council Democratic primary races.

Three of the candidates, Lori Hamann, Sheila Niezgodski and Jo Broden, are wives of elected officials.

Hamann's husband, Mike, is the St. Joseph County auditor, Niezgodski's husband, David, is a state representative and Broden's husband, John, is a state senator.

Is it just coincidence that the three women decided to run? The short answer is yes, they say.

"There's no grand plan," said Broden, a Democrat running unopposed in the District 4 primary.

The trio didn't sit down together and devise a scheme to run. But common threads do run through their stories. Two of the three say they partly attribute their interest in seeking public office to their familiarity with politics, which inevitably comes with being married to a politician.

And all three say they've learned skills from their mates that would help them in office, that their husbands supported their candidacies from the start and that excessive rancor on the council motivated them to run.

Their most obvious similarity is age. Niezgodski is 49 while Hamann and Broden are 52. Perhaps not surprisingly, each cited the ages of their children as factors in their decisions to run.

Niezgodski said her two stepchildren, David's children from a previous marriage, have grown and moved out of the house, and David is gone several months of the year when the General Assembly is in session.

Niezgodski, who was divorced before marrying David 11 years ago, is office manager of his Niezgodski Plumbing business. She's an Army veteran, having served as a telecommunications operator in Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm from 1987 to 1991, later worked in community corrections and has been active in the American Legion.

As she heard more people complain last year about bickering among council members, people started suggesting she run for the District 6 seat. She is challenging Democratic incumbent Oliver Davis, who's seeking his third term.

"I started looking at myself and thought, well I do have a lot of good tools," Niezgodski said. "There's a lack of women running for various offices because, to be quite honest, women kind of look at things a little differently than men do. It's not one of the first things you think, that I'm going to run for office. So I spent some time thinking about it and as I had more and more people approach me about the idea, I thought, why can't I do this?"

The youngest of the Brodens' three children is now 11, giving Jo Broden a little more time to focus on things outside the home, she said. She started thinking seriously about running about a year ago, when incumbent Fred Ferlic confirmed he would hold true to his original pledge to serve only one term in office.

She said she learned a lot about politics and government during the 1990s as executive director of the Alzheimer's Association's northern Indiana chapter, lobbying for funding in Indianapolis. Gov. Evan Bayh appointed her to a statewide Alzheimer's task force, and she has toiled behind the scenes for years on various local Democratic campaigns.

Broden is running unopposed in the Democratic primary in District 4 and doesn't yet have a Republican opponent for the November general election.

Hamann, who's running at large, said she had been interested in seeking elective office since college, when she double-majored in political science and economics, but she set those plans aside when she and her first husband started having children. More delay was required with the autism diagnosis of her youngest child, William, but he's now 21 and will soon be ready for more autonomy.

Husbands' perspectives

Niezgodski said her husband may have thought she was joking when she first told him she wanted to run.

"We did have a conversation about it because I didn't want anything I decided to do to reflect on him either," she said. "He is my husband. He is a state representative. I asked him, 'Do you think this would be OK for me to do?'"

She said David told her she would make a "wonderful" council member, but he offered some words of caution.

"He said you have to be able to have a thick skin because sometimes there's going to be things that people say that you're not going to like," she said. "They may not even be true."

Broden said her husband, well aware of her longtime interest in politics and government, was completely supportive of her candidacy.

"With any career choice and when you're in the position of leadership, there's going to be things that people ... think you're on the right track, and there will be people who think you're on the wrong track," Broden said. "In terms of public service, sure, that's amplified. But in terms of strength of character and ability to focus, and strong leadership skills, you know how to do deal with that."

Hamann, an economics and government teacher at Marian High School and Hebrew Day School who married Mike in June, said it's been difficult at times for him to see negative campaigning in her race. She is vying for one of three at-large seats against incumbents Gavin Ferlic and Karen White, and candidates Jerry Donaldson, Kintae Lark, Tom Price and John Voorde.

"It's pretty natural for any husband to want to be the protector, and I've seen that come out in him a couple of times," Hamann said. "At times he just has to bite his lip and sit back and let me work my way through it."

Hamann said has been surprised when questions have been raised about her status as Mike's wife.

"I'm sure the other wives are facing it too, that the only reason I'm pursuing politics is because I'm married to Mike, when in reality, anyone that knows anything about my past would know that this has always been my passion and my intention since college."

Familiarity a plus?

The women differ a bit on whether their familiarity with politics and government from their husbands' experience makes them more suited for office.

"I definitely know the basic operations of it," Niezgodski said. "It gives me a pretty good insight into what people expect, how they expect you to act professionally, how they expect you to devote quite a bit of time to the needs of your constituents."

But Broden thinks she's gained just as much knowledge from her other endeavors than she has watching her husband.

"I have been involved in, since 1996, in local campaigns," Broden said. "Congressional races, mayoral races, council races."

Hamann wants voters to view her separately from her husband, noting they've been married less than a year.

"I'm certainly hoping that people are looking at my platform, the things I'm holding up as my priorities because that's really what's most important. I have a great deal to bring in my own right and I'm not intending to stand on Mike's shoulders at all."

The Tribune asked the trio's opponents if they see political power being concentrated in families such as these as an issue of concern. Price, one of the at-large candidates, said it's a question that's arisen nationally with the Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush presidential campaigns.

"In terms of conflict of interest, I'm not as concerned about the spouse of a state legislator serving on the city council ... I am concerned about the potential for a conflictual relationship that could emerge between the city and the county if an elected city council member is the spouse of an elected county official," Price said, making an apparent reference to the Hamanns. "I'm facing both the Hamann and Voorde political dynasties in my race."

Voorde, whose father, Edward F. "Babe" Voorde, was South Bend mayor from 1955 until his death in an automobile accident in 1960, downplayed the issue.

"I believe name recognition may be somewhat of an advantage coming out of the blocks, but is rather easily overcome during the course of a campaign," Voorde said. "I see no correlation between familial connection and ability to serve effectively. Concentration of power is overblown and mostly irrelevant."

White, seeking her fifth term, said her name recognition comes from her "solid track record" on the council, and before that, on the South Bend Community School Corp. board. She said she's excited that more women are entering the political arena.

"In terms of political power, that has rested, and always will rest, with the citizens we serve," she said.

At-large candidate Gavin Ferlic, seeking his second term, said name recognition "has to be a positive in any election," but he doesn't see political power being concentrated in families is an important issue.

"I will say that I am encouraged by the diversity and quality of candidates that have stepped up to serve the city of South Bend in this year's elections," he said.