A candidate who refers to himself as “Sieg Heil” has officially filed to run for a position in the Indiana General Assembly.
Richard Benedict Meyers, 54, submitted his application to the Secretary of State’s Office on Tuesday, aiming to be listed on the ballot as “Richard Benedict (Sieg Heil) Meyers.” He plans to contest as a Republican in Indiana’s 1st Congressional District. The documentation he provided confirmed this.
The name in parentheses is typically meant to indicate a candidate’s nickname, sort of like “Mike” or “Jim.” However, in this instance, it draws on a notorious Nazi salute, which translates to “Long live victory” in German.
Meyers is one of three Republicans vying for a spot in the northwest Indiana district, which is presently held by Democrat Frank Mulvan, covering Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties.
Interestingly, Indiana has no residency requirement for filing for the primary election, only for the general election. Plus, there’s no minimum number of signatures needed for submission.
Lake County Republican Party Chairman Randy Niemeyer, who is also running as the Republican candidate against Mulvan in the 2024 race, mentioned to WGN-TV that he’s already spoken to state party officials about getting Meyers removed from the primary ballot.
“Anyone who registers with a name like that certainly grabs attention, so I don’t take him seriously as a candidate,” Niemeyer stated.
He added that he and other committee chairs in the district are working to ensure Meyers doesn’t participate in the primary vote.
“When I first saw it, my initial reaction was, ‘Oh my God, another idiot running for office,'” Niemeyer remarked.
“An idiot is born every minute, and this just happens to be one of them,” he concluded.
The primary election is set for May 5th, but the time to remove him from the ballot is running short.
The deadline for filing a complaint with the Indiana State Board of Elections is February 6th, which is 30 days from now.
Back in 2000, Chicago Alderman Joe Moore challenged Meyers’ racist referendum proposals, which included banning interracial marriage, anti-abortion measures targeting “healthy white babies,” and even “deporting” black prisoners to West Africa.
Niemeyer characterized Meyers as a “serial filer,” noting that Meyers lost in the 2024 Alaska election, where he received only 119 votes in the nonpartisan primary, according to Ballotpedia.
Interestingly, Meyers has made several other unsuccessful attempts to change parties and gain election to Congress or other offices.
A former resident of Berwyn, Meyers last had an address in Chicago, as reported by WGN-TV.
