• Office Sought: Representative, Indiana (1)
• Birth Date: Aug. 13, 1949
• Occupation: Attorney
• Religion: Catholic
• Web site: http://www.viscloskyforcongress.us/

Education

• Georgetown University, LLM
• Indiana University, BS
• Notre Dame University, JD

Peter Visclosky was elected in 1984 after he beat Rep. Katie B. Hall, the first black person elected to the House from Indiana, in the Democratic primary that year.

Visclosky, a lawyer, was a former aide to Rep. Adam Benjamin, who died in September 1982. In November 1982, Hall won a special election to finish out Benjamin's term and was elected his successor in the newly redrawn 1st District.

Two years later, Visclosky narrowly defeated Hall in a three-way race in the Democratic primary, receiving 34.5 percent of the vote to Hall's 32.6 percent and 31.4 percent for then-Lake County Prosecutor Jack Crawford. The campaign had some racial overtones with both Visclosky and Crawford, who are white, accusing Hall of being indifferent to voters outside of predominantly black Gary where Visclosky was born.

Visclosky now lives in Merrillville. He earned a bachelor's in accounting in 1970 at Indiana University Northwest in Gary and a law degree in 1973 at the University of Notre Dame Law School. He is a self-proclaimed "die-hard" Notre Dame football fan.

Visclosky earned a master's in international and comparative law at Georgetown University Law Center in 1982. He practiced law from 1973 to 1976 and worked as a congressional aide from 1977 to 1982.

Visclosky married attorney Joanne Royce in 2008, saying he was "happy and shocked to find someone who will marry me." He has two children from a previous marriage: John and Timothy.