Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
"I'm thrilled," Mark Souder said this morning following his decisive victory in the U.S. House of Representatives race for the newly formed Third District.
Coming from the old Fourth District, the Republican Congressman received an overwhelming win over Democrat challenger Jay Rigdon of North Webster.
Although he was recipient of 69.9 percent (12,071) of the votes in Kosciusko County, Souder didn't take anything for granted during this race.
"What I've found through politics is people want to know two things. Is the candidate like me in how he views the world? And does he care about me and my problems?" he said.
"My goal in Kosciusko County was to figure out where the jobs came from and how they are different from what I've worked with before. Warsaw, of course, is the medical devices capital of the world and a lot of income comes from there.
"Then there is the agricultural community - Maple Leaf Farms and Creighton Brothers are huge. They bring money into circulation which supports the other businesses."
Souder also educated himself about the county's social services network the education system, and finds himself learning about the lakes.
"You can't shake hands with everyone, but I tried to hit the networks. I think what people want in a congressman is someone concerned about their jobs, their services and their employers.
"I think people in Kosciusko County concluded, at a rate of 70 percent, that I agreed with them. At the congressional level, that's what politics are all about," he said.
Rigdon got the nod from 27.9 percent (4,818) of the county's voters, and Libertarian Mike Donlan received 381 votes, or 2.21 percent.
The district voters gave Souder 54,420 votes, Rigdon 25,327 and Donlan 1,960.
Souder was first elected to Congress in 1994 after working for U. S. Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) for 10 years during Coats' tenure in the House and Senate.
The race against Rigdon is the Grabill native's fifth congressional win.
The representative's family founded Souder's of Grabill in 1907. He is currently managing partner of Historic Souder's of Grabill, which owns the land and buildings of Souder's General Store, the Country Shops of Grabill and the Home of Elias Ruff Restaurant.
He and his wife, the former Diane Zimmer of South Bend, married in 1974. They have three children: Brooke, 23; Nathan, 21; and Zachary, 13. The Souders reside in Fort Wayne, where they attend Emmanuel Community Church.
The Third District consists of more than 675,000 people in Kosciusko, DeKalb, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley counties, as well as townships in Elkhart and Allen counties.
Representation of the district, remapped after the 2000 Census, officially begins Jan. 1.
