A candidate who claims “Sieg Heil” as his nickname has filed to run for Congress in Indiana.
Richard Benedict Mayers, 54, filed with the Secretary of State’s Office on Tuesday to run on the Republican ticket in Indiana’s 1st Congressional District to appear on the ballot as “Richard Benedict (Sieg Heil) Mayers,” the filing shows.
The parenthetical names are typically meant to show nicknames of candidates like “Mike” or “Jim” — but in this case, it’s a nod to the notorious Nazi salute, which means “Hail Victory” in German.
Mayers is one of three Republicans who have filed to run in the northwest Indiana District, which is currently represented by Democrat Frank Mrvan and covers Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties.
There is no residency requirement to file for a primary in Indiana, just the general election. There is also no minimum number of signatures necessary to file.
Lake County GOP Chairman Randy Niemeyer, who ran as the Republican candidate against Mrvan in the 1st District in 2024, told WGN-TV that he’s already been talking with state party officials to have Mayers removed from the primary ballot.
“Anyone who files under that kind of name is looking for attention and I don’t take them seriously as a candidate,” Niemeyer said.
“Myself and the other chairmen in the district are making sure he will not get on the primary ballot.”
“When I first saw [the Sieg Heil], my first response was ‘oh my God, another idiot running for office,’” Niemeyer said.
“There’s a moron born every minute and this just happens to be another one of them.”
The primary is scheduled for May 5.
The window to remove him is closing fast, however.
Filings close on Feb. 6 which launches a 30-day window for challenges to the Indiana Election Commission.
In 2000, Chicago Alderman Joe Moore filed legal challenges against racist referendum proposals by Mayers — including banning interracial marriage, prohibit abortions of “healthy white babies” and sending black convicts “back to western Africa,” the Chicago Tribune reported at the time.
Niemeyer described Mayers as a “serial filer” who last lost an election in Alaska in 2024.
He received just 119 votes in the non-partisan primary, according to Ballotpedia.
He’s made many other unsuccessful attempts to reach Congress and other elected positions across party lines.
Mayers, a former Berwyn resident, last has an address listed in Chicago, according to WGN-TV.
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