In some of the communities near Fishers, candidates are beginning to announce their intention to run for city council, yet no one has made an official announcement as of Sunday night of their intention to run for a Fishers council seat.
All 9 council seats are up for election in 2023, with 3 at-large and 6 running in their respective districts.
A few candidates have privately told me of plans to run for city council, but so far none are prepared to make an official announcement.
John Tuohy of the Indianapolis Star posted a story on the newspaper’s Web site a few days ago quoting Democrat At-Large Councilor Jocelyn Vare as saying she is undecided on her next decision in public life, which is exactly what Ms. Vare told me several days ago.
Councilor Vare just finished a campaign for the state senate which she lost to Republican Kyle Walker. She had a dose of political reality on how difficult it is to win a political office when outspent in campaign money nearly 10-1.
Vare would not speculate on any run for mayor. Hamilton County Democratic Chair Dayna Colbert told reporter Tuohy her party expects to field a candidate for Mayor of Fishers. One major challenge for any Democrat would be fund raising.
Republican Scott Fadness, the only mayor Fishers has ever known since becoming a city in 2015, told me in a recent podcast he is not prepared to make an announcement on whether he will seek re-election but plans to disclose his plans in a few weeks. However, all the tea leaves point to Fadness seeking another term.
Assuming Mayor Fadness runs for another term, any Democratic opponent will face the same challenge Jocelyn Vare faced in her state senate campaign. Fadness has shown he is able to raise lots of campaign cash in any re-election bid.
I would expect city council candidates, including incumbents, will be announcing their intentions as the candidate filing time approaches early next year. Just as one election cycle closed in early November, we are headed into another election cycle.
As I have written many times before, pay attention to your local elections and vote! Your local government is the closest one to you. Plan now for your vote in the May primary and November general election in 2023. I will do my best to update you on all the Fishers political news as we move into the new year.