Congressional candidate Mel Hall has served in a variety of positions over his lifetime, but he had never aspired to be a politician.

But that’s where he finds himself now as he seeks to win the Democratic nomination in May before taking on incumbent and Republican Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) in November. His primary opponents are Yatish Joshi and Pat Hackett.

“It’s never been on my bucket list to run for office,” he said, “so I’m doing this for a desire to serve. ... I believe in citizen government, so I’m trying to demonstrate my beliefs by how I act,” he said during an interview Monday afternoon at Latte Lounge.

Much of his campaign for the 2018 election is built on his history, from where he grew up to his service as a Methodist minister to his tenure at Press Ganey.

“I’m a Hoosier through and through, certainly born in Grant County. ... I have created a number of jobs. We (Press Ganey) went from 33 to 800 in about 15 years. We not only grew the company, but we had good-paying jobs. We set a minimum wage inside the company of $10 an hour. This was in 2006 when the national minimum wage was maybe $5.75. And a year later we allowed same-sex couples to be on the company insurance plan, which was long before that was the lay of the land, and I dare say the first company, maybe the only company in St. Joe County, maybe even wider, to do that,” he said.

After graduating from Taylor University and seminary, he became a minister in Detroit’s poorest and densest neighborhoods, the Cass Corridor. He lived there and raised his sons there. He then went to Notre Dame, where he met two professors who had started a small medical care survey firm, Press Ganey. Hall joined the firm, moving from director of research to chief operations officer, to chief executive officer and to chairman.

“The number of things that I have done, I think a lot of politicians talk about what they would do or they could do that. I think a lot of my background is having done that,” he said.

Hall said his diverse background is one of the things he brings to the table.

“I take the words of the Declaration (of Independence) very seriously: All people are created equal. And I think some people would use those words. I’ve always tried to take them seriously in my life. I do believe all of us are created equal and that God’s love spreads to everyone. And if we believe that, then our actions should demonstrate that,” he said.



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Hall said the premise that all people are created equal “has implications in lots of ways, whether it would be health care, whether it has to do with access to internet, whether it has to do then with access to good-paying jobs. So I start with all people are created equal, then I have sort of a two-fold hooks, if you will, of accountability and opportunity,” he explained.

Hall said accountability is hardwired for him from his business background. At Press Ganey, he would stand in front of the entire company monthly and code each of its objectives as red, yellow or green, with red not making an objective; yellow, kind of making an objective; and green “knocking it out of the park.” If it was coded red, he said they’d have two or three tactics upon which to improve that, so he could hold himself accountable.

“I think a public servant, first and foremost, must be held accountable to his or her constituents,” he said. “And that means saying what you have done, and standing in front of people to hear the music or feel the heat.”

Hall said he thinks accountability is the very definition of a public servant.

In Walorski’s last election, she didn’t publicly debate Democrat candidate Lyn Coleman.

“I’ve been all over the district. I’ve been in every county. ... In every county, I asked Republicans, Democrats, Independents, have you seen (Walorski)? Do you see her face to face? And the answer is almost unanimously ‘No. We may get mailings from her. We may see her staff. But we don’t see her.’ And to me, a public servant has to show up,” Hall said.

Hall said the first focus of his campaign is economics.

“A lot of people would point to the stock market’s been improving over the last four years. The unemployment rate has been dropping consistently over the last six years, maybe five. So those are great signs. But what’s also clear is that real wages for those working-class folks in our district are fairly stagnant. We’re not focusing much there,” he said.

The tax reform bill, which was voted on Tuesday, is another example of “where our priorities are out of whack,” he said. “... Because the data are really clear in this tax bill that there’s a significant wealth shift, resource shift from those at the lowest end and at the middle to those at the very top.”

Hall said a lot of congressmen and senators don’t even know what’s in it.

The tax bill gets rid of the Affordable Care Act mandate that requires everyone to have insurance or pay a penalty. While the ACA may need some work, Hall is against getting rid of it.

“The Affordable Care Act should not be repealed and replaced. But it, like many other issues that I confronted in business, we would think about continuous improvement. Let’s take those things that are good and keep them, and continuously improve,” Hall said.

The approach of taking something that’s not perfect and making it better “resonates across the aisle,” Hall said. “There are a lot of Democrats and Republicans and Independents who just want to get something done and not be so partisan,” he said.

If someone votes a straight party line 96 or 97 percent of the time, that’s not independent thinking, Hall said. Elected leaders need to use their own best judgment.

“I make people two promises: One, people will not agree with everything that I do. Everyone will not agree. Two, I will always stand in front of folks and say why and listen to their thoughts and their ideas. Always. That’s not something new to me, that’s something I’ve done my whole life,” he said.

Hall’s campaign website can be found at www.melforcongress.com.