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The Lake County Democratic Party will kick off 2022 by opening a campaign headquarters and then focusing on voter engagement and turnout.

The county party headquarters is a 1,400 square-foot space in the Griffland Plaza in Griffith and across the street from Highland, said Lake County Democratic Party Chairman James Wieser. The space is one large room, with a kitchen area, and one office, Wieser said, and the party will use the space through 2024.

“It’s a good place for us to work out of and begin our 2022 campaign. We’re really excited about it,” Wieser said. “It’s just what we need.”

The Indiana Democratic Party has hired a field organizer to come work in Lake County beginning in January, Wieser said, and he or she will work out of the headquarters.

The field organizer will work with county party volunteers to train them on how to engage voters, the appropriate time to register voters and use of the voter access network, Wieser said.

The headquarters is large enough for phone banking, for the field organizer to work out of and for volunteers to meet, Wieser said.

Previously, the party had a headquarters in Merrillville, Wieser said, but the building was torn down. Then, the party relocated to a space in Highland, he said, which was a good office space but not ideal as a campaign headquarters.

In 2018, Wieser’s first midterm election as chairman, the party had various offices throughout the county in Gary and Schererville, he said.

“Now, not only do we have a Democratic headquarters, but we have a campaign office. It’s large enough that we can run a campaign out of it,” Wieser said. “This is the most functional and effective headquarters we will have had.”

The headquarters will be the party’s “focal point” through the 2022 midterm election, the 2023 municipal elections and the 2024 presidential election, Wieser said.

“That’s why we got it for the midterms, the municipals and then for the presidential. We’ve got it covered. We’ve got a great workspace,” Wieser said.

Lake County Republican Party Chairman Dan Dernulc said the Republicans don’t currently have a headquarters, and party officials haven’t discussed the idea for 2022 yet.

“We’ve had headquarters in the past,” Dernulc said.

In 2022, Wieser said the focus will be to recruit and retain good precinct committee people, which will “help us build the party from there.”

“What we’re trying to do is build a good ground game,” Wieser said. “What people’s responsibilities will be — early in January, February and March — really focusing on voter registration, on voter interest on recruiting some candidates.”

The big push for the start of the new year is to get registered Democrats and independents to vote to maximize turn out, Wieser said.

This is a major change, Wieser said, because “these are issues that traditionally were left to start thinking about in August and September before a general election, but we’re working on it today.”

“We’ll have more people involved. We’ll have more enthusiasm,” Wieser said.

Wieser said he’s also been increasing enthusiasm in the party by meeting with young people interested in getting involved with the party to start discussions on what they can do.

An exciting race in 2022 will be for Senate District 1, currently held by Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond, Wieser said.

The state Senate redistricting maps released earlier this year drew Mrvan’s district into District 2, which is currently held by Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago.

The new Senate district maps moved Hammond into District 2 while District 1 now extends from Highland south into Griffith, Schererville and into St. John. District 1 also no longer includes Munster.

If Mrvan wanted to run for office again, he’d have to run against Randolph in the primary or move into the new boundaries of the new first district, which is no longer in Hammond.

Wieser said the new District 1 is a district that Democrats can win. Dernulc has announced that he will seek the seat, and Wieser said Dernulc will be a “formidable candidate.”

But, “a well-known candidate from the Democratic Party who lives in that district could do extremely well and could win,” Wieser said.

District 1 is what all districts should be, Wieser said, because it is competitive, open to both parties and reflect the makeup of the district. The race will generate enthusiasm and high voter turnout, Wieser said.

“It’s a balanced district,” Wieser said. “It’s going to be about getting your message out, getting your voters out, being legitimately competitive and it’s going to give candidates an opportunity to really let the voters know who they are.”

Overall, Wieser said he’s feeling confident headed into 2022.

“We’re going to run the most effective countywide and Congressional districtwide campaign since I’ve been chairman,” Wieser said. “We’re positioning ourselves to be much more effective to get our voters out to vote and to get our message out.”