SOUTH BEND — Dyngus Day may historically be tied to the St. Joseph County Democratic Party, but for the past five years, the St. Joseph County Republican Party has put together its own Dyngus Day celebration.
This year, the GOP’s Dyngus celebration featured a special guest: Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales, who spoke to the crowd.
Hosted by the St. Joseph County Young Republicans at Allie’s Café from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, April 6, the Republican Dyngus Day served a full Polish dinner comprised of green beans, noodles, mashed potatoes and sausage.
Originally brought to South Bend by Polish immigrants who celebrated the Spring equinox with Śmigus-Dyngus, Dyngus Day’s closeness to the Indiana May primary elections has made it a prime day for candidates to seek support through the St. Joseph County community.
Young Republicans chairman Joe Rice said the organization put on the event to give running candidates a chance to meet and talk to their constituents in person.
Commitments to St. Joseph County
Once food was passed around and attendees settled, Morales spoke to the Republican community about the work he’s done to make Indiana a “national model when it comes to election integrity.”
Morales said he made a promise to the state that he delivered on by helping Indiana move up to seventh place in U.S. election integrity. He’s running for reelection during the November 2026 general election.
“He loves St. Joe County. He loves visiting here,” Rice said. “To have him come here and visit an area that he has a lot of respect for and for us to have someone from the state level and meet everybody, I feel like it’s a positive win for everyone involved.”
“This race has never been about Diego Morales,” Morales said. “This race has always been about the future of our GOP party and the future of our great state of Indiana. … We are facing the biggest threat to our party in almost a generation.”
The threat Morales is referring to is Beau Bayh, a Democrat and the son of former Indiana Gov. and U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh and grandson of the late U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh.
Beau Bayh, who appeared at the St. Joseph County Democrat Party’s Dyngus celebration at M.R. Falcons, is running for his party’s nomination to challenge Morales in November. Bayh faces Blythe Potter for the nomination and has built his campaign on “protecting Hoosier taxpayers, cleaning up corruption and insider dealing, and stand up for the rights of Hoosier voters,” according to his candidacy website.
Morales made a commitment to St. Joseph County at the Republican Dyngus Day event by vowing to spend as much time in the county as possible, he said, to support other Republican candidates and the party overall.
“I have the resources, and I’m going to help local candidates up and down the ballot to do this,” Morales said. “We’re going to win in November.”
Republican Women of St. Joseph County Club member Karen Naue came out to the Dyngus Day celebration to meet new friends and the candidates that’ll be on the ballot. Naue said she was glad to see the Republican Party doing more campaigning in the county after being outshined by the Democratic Party on Dyngus Day for years.
“The other party has made such an impact, and we haven’t been as assertive going to places. We want people meet us,” Naue said. “I fractured my shoulder February first. I went through hell to be able to come here today.”
Meeting, learning and understanding
In addition to Dyngus Day being an opportunity to push campaigns, first responder Matt Clayton, who is running for county council, said it’s a chance for representatives to listen to the issues that matter to their community.
Seeing the turnout at the Republican Dyngus Day celebration brought excitement to Clayton, he said. He felt confident in his campaign’s stance to utilize efforts that exist to provide property tax relief for as many people as possible. However, he’s aware of the burden property taxes have been on the community because he’s gone door-to-door to speak with neighbors one-on-one, he said.
“How do you know what hardships people are facing without having real conversations?” Clayton said. “It’s paramount for representatives to come to events like this and actually hear from the people what it is that they’re fighting for and then utilize those ideals to actually fight for them across the county.”
As candidates walked around, shook hands with residents and gave hugs to friends, St. Joseph County GOP Chair Jackie Horvath bounced from table to table to chat with attendees. For this voting season, Horvath said, the GOP is working to get Republican voters active, and Dyngus Day was a successful example of just that.
“The more boots on the ground, the more successful the election will be,” Horvath said. “I just met some people there for the first time and we had a great conversation. It’s amazing how much we have in common. We talked about politics and Indiana football.”
In an act of support and solidarity, Harris Township board member Robert Fox has attended the event for three years and appreciates the sobriety attached to the Dyngus Day event, unlike its Democratic counterpart.
It’s an opportunity for learning and understanding, he said.
“To come, network, understand and listen to some people’s viewpoints without getting angry or upset, to me, is a beautiful thing,” Fox said.
Email South Bend Tribune business reporter Jessica Velez at jvelez@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: GOP Dyngus Day celebration in St. Joseph County features Diego Morales
Reporting by Jessica Velez, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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