Wealthy businessman Jefferson Shreve will partially self-fund mayoral campaign

If the Indianapolis mayor’s depended only on campaign cash, it likely would be Republican businessman Jefferson Shreve versus Democratic incumbent Mayor Joe Hogsett in the November election.

Shreve, who sold his company Storage Express for $590 million last year, said Thursday that he plans to partially self-fund his own campaign, giving him a significant financial advantage over his opponents for the Republican nomination.

Shreve will face political commentator and lawyer Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, the Rev. James W. Jackson and John L. Couch in the May 2 Republican primary.

“The reality is time is short. And I’ve got to mount a vigorous campaign,” Shreve told IBJ. “And so I’ll provide the seed capital to get it off the ground.”

Shreve didn’t say how much of his personal wealth he might be willing to devote to his mayoral run.

Previously, Shreve has made significant donations to IUPUI, where he sits on the Board of Advisors. In 2018, he and his wife Mary funded the construction of “The Shreve Gateway,” the 52-feet tall steel structure at the corner of Michigan and West streets for IUPUI. The unspecified donation also funded two endowed scholarships.

Shabazz and Couch haven’t been required yet to file campaign finance disclosure forms. Jackson had about $1,920 in his campaign account in January. 

Shabazz told IBJ in an email that he is not surprised by Shreve’s plan to at least partially self-fund his campaign.

“Mr. Shreve’s last-minute entry to the Republican Primary does not change my campaign’s strategy, and I’m confident we will be able to raise the funds necessary to get our message out as we have planned,” Shabazz said.

On the Democratic side, Hogsett had $3.6 million on hand in January, and his Democratic opponents were far behind. State Rep. Robin Shackleford, who is perceived by most pundits to be his biggest challenger, had $40,300 cash on hand. She gave her campaign over half of these funds by loaning $25,000 and transferring $10,000 from her Statehouse campaign.

A crowded Republican primary

Republican voters will have to choose from four distinct candidates in May: an outspoken political commentator in Shabazz, a faith leader in Jackson, a perennial candidate with Couch, and Shreve, a businessman with political experience.

Laura Merrifield Wilson, associate political science professor at the University of Indianapolis, said that Shreve’s combination of government and business experience make him a strong candidate.

He has served two separate stints as a city-county councilor. He also was also a commissioner on the city’s Metropolitan Development Commission and was appointed by then-Gov. Mike Pence to Indiana’s State Workforce Innovation Council. He is on the board of directors of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Shreve said his experience is essential to the job.

“I think that the city is a great, big, complicated organization,” he said. “And I don’t think it’s a good starting point for someone that hasn’t wrestled with the complexity, the depth and breadth of city government before—it is not a place to learn on the job.”

Wilson said that Shreve’s joining the Republican primary makes it competitive. While many of the candidates may have the same views, Shabazz and Shreve would have completely different styles of communicating solutions.

Jim Merritt, who ran for mayor against Hogsett in 2019 and lost, told IBJ that Shreve may be running out of time to get his name out to voters before the primaries. Shabazz, who was a frequent political analyst on local TV and radio before he launched his campaign, already has a significant public profile, Merritt said, which might help him against a candidate with more money.

Merritt has previously been supportive of Shabazz, but he received financial support from Shreve in the past and told IBJ he’s supportive of all Republicans. Shreve donated at least $7,500 to Merritt’s 2019 mayoral campaign.

Merritt also noted that Shreve has been quiet about his run, whereas Jackson held a campaign announcement event and Shabazz publicly contemplated his run before officially announcing on 93.1 WIBC-FM.

“If you took a poll right now, asking if you knew one of the three or all three, Abdul [Shabazz] would be the most known,” Merritt said. “I think… the most known will win.”

Would Shreve have a shot against Hogsett?

Money isn’t everything, Wilson said. Meaningful issues matter, too.

When Republican Greg Ballard upset incumbent Democrat Bart Peterson in 2007, it was due in part to a huge property tax hike. With Hogsett, his naysayers tried the crime issue in last year’s county prosecutor’s race and saw it fail.

Republican Cyndi Carrasco lost the race for prosecutor to Democratic incumbent Ryan Mears by nearly 10 percentage points in what was expected by some to be a close margin. A big loss for a well-funded, strong GOP candidate reflects badly on the chances of Shreve—or any Republican—taking the mayor’s office in Democrat-dominated Indianapolis, Wilson said.

“What are the odds? The odds are long,” Shreve told IBJ. But he said the issues that mayors deal with make the role the most nonpartisan office on the ballot.

If Shreve does end up as the Republican nominee, he may be able to use his time as a city-county councilor under Hogsett as a way to point to a record of compromise, Wilson said.

Shreve’s priorities

Shreve told IBJ that the mayor should serve as “convener in chief.” He said hehopes to combine his business, government and philanthropic experience to solve infrastructure, crime and housing issues.

“These are big challenges that have to be addressed and knocked down by the next administration, working in tandem with other forces, certainly, including the General Assembly,” Shreve said.

He said the city needs to find it’s “next big thing” and used the example of adopting a sports-focused strategy decades ago. Finding that new focus is key to continue to attracting new residents, Shreve said.

“We got to figure out how we how we build that, that brand with our city where talent and capital wants to come in from further afield,” Shreve said.