(KOKOMO, Ind.) – The fields are set for Indiana’s mayoral primaries in May.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Republican State Senator Jim Merritt each face challengers ahead of an expected matchup in November. Denise Hatch, who lost a run for Center Township constable last year, will try to upset Hogsett, while Merritt faces Felipe Rios and Christopher Moore.
Mayors Jim Brainard in Carmel and Scott Fadness in Fishers face Republican insurgencies. Hamilton County Councilman Fred Glynn is running against Brainard, while Logan Day, who’s clashed with Fadness over plans for the Nickel Plate Railroad, will try to unseat him. Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry faces three challengers.
A string of open seats along U.S. 31 begins in Noblesville, where four Republicans are running to replace the retiring John Ditslear. Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight’s surprise retirement leaves contests in both parties, with United Way president Abbie Smith and former police captain Kevin Summers running to replace Goodnight as Democrats’ standardbearer, while Republican county commissioner Tyler Moore faces landscaper Richard Stout. In South Bend, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s run for president leaves nine Democrats battling to replace him.
Incumbents are also stepping aside in Martinsville and Muncie.
Monroe County Commissioner Amanda Barge is mounting a Democratic primary challenge to Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton, while Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson is fending off eight challengers, including one seeking to appear on the ballot as Jerry (Freeman) Wilson.
Republicans currently hold 60 Indiana city halls to Democrats’ 56, with five independents.
(L to R) Mayors Joe Stahura of Whiting (D), Joe Hogsett of Indianapolis (D) and Jim Brainard of Carmel (R). Hogsett and Brainard face challengers in the May primary. (Photo: Eric Berman/WIBC)
