Mayor Joe Hogsett completed a successful bid for reelection in 2019, defeating Republican opponent State Sen. Jim Merritt by a 45-point margin on Nov. 5.
Throughout the mayoral campaign, Hogsett advocated for an increase in the minimum wage for companies that want tax incentives, an idea Hogsett argued would help get the roughly 20% of Indianapolis residents who live below the poverty line out of poverty.
“It’s not enough just to support underserved aspects of our city,” Hogsett said in the first mayoral debate. “But rather we must be about the business of changing outcomes. Until the outcomes change, systemic racism will exist, and we’ll fight it.”
A highlight of Hogsett’s first term was an effort to fix the city’s roads and infrastructure. In a bipartisan budget, Hogsett allocated millions of dollars to fix potholes and infrastructure. Under Hogsett’s leadership, a bipartisan infrastructure commission was created. Hogsett also supported police wearing body cameras, a policy he included in his 2020 spending plan.
Unlike his opponent, Hogsett offered no Black agenda throughout the course of his campaign. Merritt offered a plan focusing on education, economics and public safety that he hoped would benefit the Black community of Indianapolis. Merritt expressed interest in partnering with IPS to enhance education, saying in a debate: “the idea of an achievement gap breaks my heart.”
Merritt also cited the growing homicide rate in Indianapolis to argue that Hogsett’s approach to combating violence wasn’t working. In 2018, 117 of the 159 homicide victims in the city were Black. Indianapolis homicide rates have been on the rise since 2012 — and the city hit an all-time high during Hogsett’s first year in office in 2015.
According to Recorder columnist Marshawn Wolley, Hogsett’s inability to curb violence in the city was his biggest failure throughout his first term.
“We seem to be marching to a third straight record year of homicides without a public outcry worthy of the crisis,” Wolley wrote in 2018. “But here’s the thing – Hogsett has increased police staffing, re-introduced beat policing and engaged federal partners on this problem. He even invested in street interrupters and is treating crime like a public health problem instead of strictly a law enforcement problem.”
Despite a high homicide rate and his lack of a Black agenda, African American support for Hogsett was strong throughout the campaign.
Hogsett’s plans for 2020 and the remainder of his term include fixing roads, reducing violence throughout the city and hiring more police.
One of the most pressing items on Hogsett’s agenda will be to find the replacement for Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Bryan Roach, who is resigning at the end of the year. Roach was named chief in January 2017.
While Merritt’s campaign ended in defeat, he plans to continue his work in the state Senate with a focus on the city’s crime rate and infrastructure.
Contact staff writer Breanna Cooper at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @BreannaNCooper.
Mayor Joe Hogsett speaks at the Athenaeum after winning reelection. (Photo/Curtis Guynn)
