Mara Candelaria Reardon


Mara Candelaria Reardon is an American politician who is a member of the Indiana House of Representatives, representing the 12th District from 2007 - 2015, and then 2017 to present. Candelaria Reardon is a member of the Democratic Party. She was first elected in 2006. She was defeated in the 2014 general election by Bill Fine, but defeated Fine in the 2016 general election.
Candelaria Reardon is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Indiana's 1st congressional district, to replace retiring incumbent Pete Visclosky. She announced her run on November 21, 2019.

Biography

Candelaria Reardon was born in East Chicago, Indiana, in 1964. She is the daughter of Isabelino "Cande" Candelaria, the first Puerto Rican appointed to a city council in Indiana, and Victoria Soto Candelaria, the first Latina elected as President of the Indiana Federation of Teachers. She graduated from Munster High School in Munster, Indiana, in 1982 and attended Indiana University Northwest for her undergraduate degree, before attending John Marshall School of Law in Chicago for her Juris Doctorate.

Political career

Reardon served as executive director of Lake County's Drug Free Alliance. She has served on the Ways & Means, Education, Environmental, Governmental/Regulatory Reform, and Small Business/Economic Development Committees.
She has served as a commissioner for the Indiana Commission for Women, Market Development Recycling Board, Minority & Women's Business Enterprise Commission, Hispanic/Latino Affairs Commission, and the Indiana Commission to Combat Substance Abuse.
She and her husband are principals at MCR Partners, Ltd., a consulting firm.
She is the vice chair of the Board of Hispanic Caucus Chairs, serves on the National Association of Elected and Appointed Officials Education Fund Board of Directors, and is a member of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators.
Reardon has advocated for greater funding for drug addiction treatment and legalizing medical marijuana.
She has generally opposed cuts to public education funding, limits on collective bargaining, cuts to unemployment insurance programs, repealing Common Core education standards, and directing state funding to private charter schools.
In July 2018, Candelaria Reardon came forward as one of five women who allege they were sexually harassed by Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill while celebrating the end of the General Assembly session at 2:00 a.m. at AJ's Lounge, an adult party bar and the oldest African-American-owned bar in Indianapolis. On March 2, 2020, the lawsuit and all federal claims in the civil case brought against the Attorney General by Candelaria and three other women were dismissed by federal Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson of the U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana.
In the 2020 elections, Reardon ran for the United States House of Representatives seat in, where incumbent Pete Visclosky is retiring. Reardon lost the Democratic nomination to Frank J. Mrvan.

Election results

2012

2014

2016

2018