Indianapolis Democrats face choice in party reorganization

Marion County Democrats will meet privately on Saturday to elect their next leader in a race that pits the current chair against two challengers who have been active in party politics.

The decision comes after a year in which the party raised just $170,000—less than half of what had become the norm in previous general election years. The Marion County Democratic Party raised nearly $374,000 in 2020 and $427,000 in 2016.

And the total number of votes case in last year’s general election in Marion County, which the Indiana Democratic Party counts on to deliver votes for statewide candidates, was at its lowest since 2004.

The leader selected Saturday will shape the party’s future ahead of the 2027 election for Indianapolis mayor, which is expected to be hotly contested as Mayor Joe Hogsett has said he does not plan to seek reelection.

Party insiders known as precinct committee members will vote in a closed caucus. The party’s current chair, Myla Eldridge, who also serves as the Marion County auditor, is seeking to stay in the post. She’s being challenged by Annette Johnson, the Pike Township trustee; and Dana Black, a podcast host who works for Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue.

Eldridge became chair in 2022, after her predecessor resigned mid-term over a controversy related to the party’s previous method of endorsing candidates, called slating. Eldridge received 96% of the vote in the September 2022 caucus.

The party eliminated the process of slating under Eldridge, which some candidates had previously critiqued as discriminatory. The process required that candidates pay a fee to the county party to be considered for the party’s official endorsement.

Slating also served as a “key fundraiser for our GOTV efforts,” Eldridge said in a social media post, meaning the party had less money for those efforts in 2024.

The lackluster turnout motivated her competitors.

Johnson said she spoke with other progressive Democrats after seeing the low turnout numbers. Ultimately, she decided that the local party needed a change.

Her supporters include some who disagreed with the decision by the the City-County Council’s Democratic Caucus to expel councilor Jesse Brown—a self-described Democratic socialist who has butted heads with Democratic leaders since his election in 2023—from the group.

Johnson joined Brown’s supporters at the council Committee on Committees meeting earlier this month.

“I want to make sure that, again, we’re under one big tent, this party, and do what we need to do to get some of these [statewide] elections winnable and move the needle forward,” she said.

In a statement to IBJ, Eldridge said she is running because “there is more work to be done” and she is the only candidate with the “experience, relationships and ability to raise the funds necessary to strengthen our party and lead it forward.”

“The next chair has the opportunity to not only continue our historic record of electoral success but to grow our precinct organization and reach out to more of our neighbors to ensure they vote,” she said. “I’ve got a plan to do that and am optimistic that Marion County Democrats will support me this Saturday.”

Black, who writes a monthly column for IBJ’s Forefront publication, joined the candidate pool more recently. She said that working in Democratic fundraising, hosting her podcast, “Turn Left,” regularly writing opinion columns and appearing on local television demonstrate her commitment to the party.

“I wake up in the morning, I go to bed at night, and the only thing I think about is, ‘how do I elect more Democrats who are going to write good policy that improves lives?'” Black told IBJ.

If she’s chosen to represent the party, Black said her focus will be on going out into communities and using online platforms to get non-voters more involved.

The Marion County Democratic Party will select leadership in a caucus on March 1.