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Porter County Election Board president found dead along road in Valparaiso, police say; no foul play suspected

The Porter County Coroner’s Office has identified David Welter, a Valparaiso University law school professor and president of the Porter County Election Board, as the person found deceased along a Valparaiso road Monday morning.

Valparaiso police have said there are no signs or indicators of foul play in the death of David Welter, 59, of Valparaiso.

Colleagues on the election board recalled Welter, a Democrat appointed to the election board in March after the resignation of former president J.J. Stankiewicz, as a calming, professional force during a tumultuous time for the board.

Board members said they were shocked and saddened by Welter’s unexpected death.

“He was definitely a calming force. He came in with a job that needed to be done,” said Clerk Jessica Bailey, who served on the board with Welter. “He came in and was open minded.”

Bailey said she and other board members were surprised and saddened to hear of his death.

“We’re all in shock over this. Personally, it’s a hard blow,” she said, adding Welter, new to the board, asked questions about the election process to bring himself up to speed. “It’s going to be difficult moving forward.”

Porter County Democratic Party Chair Jeffrey Chidester appointed Welter to the board after Stankiewicz resigned because he came under fire after being captured on video belittling Bailey before an election board meeting.

The election board was expanded from three to five members as of July 1 after a new state law took effect restructuring how elections were handled in Porter County after a chaotic November 2018 general election in which polls opened late, thousands of absentee ballots went uncounted that night, and election results weren’t tallied until three days after the election.

“He had a huge challenge. There were some issues at the time, but he was such a change in personality (from Stankiewicz) and his composure,” said election board member David Bengs. “He was much more calm than J.J.”

Bengs described Welter as intelligent and professional in his approach to the election board.

“We enjoyed working with him. I think I speak on behalf of the board in saying that,” Bengs said. “It’s just a shock. He was just a good person to work with. It was totally unexpected, just a shame.”

Board member Ethan Lowe, who was appointed by Porter County Republican Party Chair Michael Simpson to one of the new spots that opened in July, said he was just getting to know Welter over the past several months.

“I found him to be a very intelligent, level headed individual who I enjoyed working with. I’m saddened to hear of his sudden passing,” he said. Chidester, who also sits on the board, will be tasked with appointing a replacement for Welter. He did not return a request for comment about Welter’s death Monday.

According to information on the Valparaiso University website, Welter received his bachelors degree there in 1983 and graduated from the university’s law school in 1990. He worked in private practice for four years before becoming faculty supervisor of the university’s Criminal Law Clinic in 1994. His students have argued before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Indiana Supreme Court.

Welter’s practice focused on criminal defense, insurance defense, personal injury, workers compensation, Social Security disability and divorce.

Valparaiso police were called around 7:40 a.m. Monday to the 1300 block of Bullseye Lake Road on Valparaiso’s north side for a report of a man down, and police and medical personnel determined he was deceased, according to a release from that agency.

An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday, according to the coroner’s office.

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.