Mayoral elections in South Bend, Indiana

The 1963 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 5, 1963. It saw the election of Republican nominee Lloyd M. Allen. Incumbent Democrat Frank J. Bruggner, who had reluctantly assumed the office after Edward F. Voorde's death in an automobile accident, did not seek reelection to the office. Primaries Democratic primary Two candidates faced each other in the Democratic primary. Paul Krueper was favored by voters on the East Side and had the support of the Democratic establishment. However, Eugene Pajakowki was favored by voters on the West Side, which had a significant Polish-American vote at the time. Allen's victory has been attributed to the split in the Democratic party following its fractious primary. ==1967==

The 1967 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 7, 1967. It saw the reelection of incumbent Republican Lloyd M. Allen. This is the last time that a Republican has won a South Bend mayoral election. Allen received strong support from the city's African American wards. Allen even received a surprising number of votes in the heavily-Democratic 2nd and 6th wards. {{Election box begin no change Allen's victory had an arguable coattail effect, with Republican City Clerk nominee Cecil Blough winning his race. ==1971==

The 1971 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 2, 1971. The election was won by Democratic nominee Jerry Miller. Nominations Democratic primary Democrats nominated Jerry Miller, a St. Joseph County Commissioner who had served as President of the County Commissioners. Republican primary Republicans nominated Common Council member Janet Allen The Republican primary had been a divisive one, with a battle being waged between the cities moderate and conservative Republican Party wings. Jerry Miller had previously been on a study commission to examine a restructuring of the St. Joseph County and South Bend governments. ==1975==

The 1975 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 4, 1975. The election was won by Democratic nominee Peter Nemeth, who had unseated the incumbent Democratic mayor, Jerry Miller, in the party's primary. Nominations Democratic primary Democratic incumbent Jerry Miller was unseated in the primary, being defeated by common council member Peter Nemeth. Republican primary John Slafkosky won the Republican nomination. Also seeking the Republican nomination was George Williams Jr. Williams was the first black man to run for mayor of South Bend. Williams was a community organizer. Independent candidates Ronald R. Kronewittier ran as an independent candidate. General election Due to the strength of the Democratic Party, his upset primary victory, and his popularity as a common council member, Nemeth was favored to win. He ultimately won a landslide victory. {{Election box begin no change ==1979==

The 1979 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 6, 1979. It saw the election Democratic nominee Roger Parent. Nominations Primary elections were held May 8. Democratic primary Roger Parent won the Democratic primary. Parent won roughly 6,500 votes. Immediately after the Democratic primary, all of Parent's three largest opponents gave him their support for the general election. ==1983==

The 1983 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 8, 1983. It saw the reelection of incumbent Democrat Roger Parent. Nominations Primary elections were held on May 3. Democratic primary Democrats renominated incumbent mayor Roger Parent. Republican primary Republicans nominated businessman Howeard Hoodhew. Goodhew defeated school board member Oscar Brookins. Parent carried the vote in five of the city's six Common Council (city council) districts The coinciding election for the Common Council (which also had two at-large seats) saw the Democrats retain the 8–1 majority that they had won four years prior. {{Election box begin no change ==1987==

The 1987 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 3, 1987. Joe Kernan defeated Republican Carl Baxmeyer. Rumors arose that internal polling had shown that, with controversy around the construction of Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium, Parent would not have been able to win a third term. Several allies of Parent on the Common Council with involvement in the stadium construction would ultimately lose their reelection bids in the May primaries. with their campaigns against each other proving heated and divisive. While campaigning for the nomination, Kernan distanced himself from incumbent mayor Roger Parent, whom he had served under as comptroller during Parent's first term as mayor. Kernan's main campaign message was that the city needed to take action in preparing for its future rather than "sit[ting] back". won the Republican nomination, defeating opponents Mike Waite and William C.A. Rose Jr. Waite was businessman who had never held public office, Incumbent mayor Roger Parent disputed Baxmeyer's criticisms, arguing that it made sense to hire Hill due to the fact that he was already caught up on important issues including the city's stadium efforts. FOP #36, the city's police union, endorsed Baxmeyer. Results {{Election box begin no change ==1991==

The 1991 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 5, 1991. Incumbent Democratic mayor Joe Kernan was reelected to a second term, defeating Republican challenger Sylvia Shelton. Shelton would have been the first woman to be elected mayor of South Bend had she won the election. , no woman has been elected mayor of South Bend. Turnout in the election was considered to be light, which the South Bend Tribune attributed to cold weather on the day of the election. {{Election box begin no change ==1995==

The 1995 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 7, 1995. Incumbent Democratic mayor Joe Kernan was reelected to a third term, defeating Republican challenger Michael C. "Mike" Waite. Kernan won a record share of the vote for a South Bend mayoral election. In winning this election, Kernan became the first South Bend mayor since 1905 to win a third term. It also made Kernan poised to break the record, at the time, for longest-serving mayor of South Bend. Waite was president of High Tech Alarm Corporation Inc. Much of the campaign season would center on these controversies. Kernan campaigned as an opponent of further privatization in the city. At the time, attracting the College Football Hall of Fame to South Bend had been considered one of Kernan's successes as mayor. Kernan became the first South Bend mayor since 1905 to be elected to a third term. The election made Kernan poised to become the city's longest-serving mayor at the time, with his mayoral tenure being able to extend than any of his predecessors' mayoralties. {{Election box begin no change ==1999==

The 1999 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 2, 1999. Incumbent Democratic mayor Steve Luecke, who had become mayor after his predecessor Joe Kernan became Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, was reelected to a first full-term (and second overall term). Luecke faced Republican challenger Steven Bradley. Nominations Democratic primary During the Democratic primary election, Luecke was challenged by Portage Township Assessor John Voorde as well as Kevin C. Horton and Zbigniew "Ziggy" Borowski. Voorde arose as the most significant challenger to Luecke. who had served from 1956 until his death in office in 1960. Bradley proposed a business incentive development plan. A similarly timed South Bend Tribune poll found Luecke to have a 14-point lead. Turnout in the election was 31%. {{Election box begin no change ==2003==

The 2003 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 4, 2003. Incumbent Democratic mayor Steve Luecke was reelected to a second full-term (and third overall term). Nominations Democratic primary Incumbent mayor Steve Luecke was unchallenged in the Democratic Party's primary election. Originally attempting to challenge Leucke for the nomination was 1995 Republican mayoral nominee (and failed 1987 South Bend Republican mayoral primary candidate) Michael C. "Mike" Waite. Republican primary After a long search to try and find a candidate, hours before the deadline for a candidate to register, St. Joseph County Republican chairman Matt Lentsch announced Thomas Schmidt as a candidate/presumptive nominee. 2003 wound up being a good year for Democrats in Indiana's mayoral elections, with the party winning control of the mayoralties of all of the state's top seven most populous cities for the first time since 1959. The Democratic Party also won control of the mayoralties in twenty of the state's thirty cities with populations above 25,000. During the general election, St. Joseph County, where South Bend is located, saw voter turnout of 15% in its various elections. ==2007==

The 2007 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 6, 2007. Incumbent Democratic mayor Steve Luecke was reelected to a third full-term (and fourth overall term). Nominations During the primary elections, St. Joseph County, where South Bend is located, saw voter turnout of 10% in its various primary elections. Democratic primary Incumbent mayor Steve Luecke defeated challenger William F. "Bill" Davis in the Democratic primary. Davis was widely-unknown. Davis' primary past political endeavor was an unsuccessful 1994 campaign for a seat on the South Bend School Board. The primary was won by Juan A. Manigualt, He defeated Terry S. Miller, In his primary race Manigault raised $30,000 in funds. The primary race was projected as a "tossup". Manigault boasted several endorsements, among them was the endorsement of Fraternal Order of Police Post 36, American Family Association Indiana, Indiana Family Action, Manigault resigned from his position as head of Workforce Development to focus on his candidacy. Manigault made the issue of economic development central to his candidacy. Manigault took issue with Luecke's interim economic development director Jeff Ginbey, arguing that his continuing role as president of the South Bend Heritage Foundation presented conflict of interest. The state had previously audited the firm and found missing funds. Two studies that were recent at the time of the election had demonstrated that these efforts by Luecke were allowing the city to enjoy millions in economic spending. A late-September poll by Research 2000 showed Luecke polling at 42% favorable and 35% unfavorable among residents, with 23% undecided in their opinions on him. The mailer featured a card with an image tombstone surrounded by a desolate landscape, with an epitaph reading, "RIP. Here lies South Bend, a once vibrant city now abandoned by business, overrun by violent crime and driving people from their family homes because of high property taxes." Manigault's campaign had presented enough of a challenge to Luecke that the state Democratic party allotted additional funds to Luecke's campaign in the autumn. Luecke was initially seen as having very strong odds of reelection. However, by August, some experts considered the race as a potential "tossup". Ultimately, however, the race was seen as being in Luecke's favor. After his predecessor Joe E. Kernan, this election made Luecke only the second South Bend mayor in the previous hundred years to have been elected to a third full term. During the general election, St. Joseph County, where South Bend is located, saw voter turnout of 15% in its various elections. ==2011==

The 2011 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 8, 2011. The election was won by Democratic nominee Pete Buttigieg, who, at 29 years of age, became the youngest mayor, at the time, of a United States city with a population greater than 100,000. Nominations Democratic primary Democratic primary election candidates included failed 2010 Indiana State treasurer candidate Pete Buttigieg, state representative Ryan Dvorak, high school teacher and St. Joseph Councilman Michael Hamann, reverend and former Clinton administration staffer Barrett Berry, and attorney Felipe Merino. Republican primary By April, Norris W. Curry, also known as Wayne Curry, had already established himself as the broad frontrunner in the Republican primary. Curry, a carpenter and construction contractor, had won the support of the local Republican establishment ahead of the primary. Curry also was considered the best-known individual among those contending for the Republican nomination, and was also the most visible campaigner. Curry had previously run unsuccessfully for an at-large city council seat in 2007, as well as a county council seat in 2008. Curry had some experience in government and community projects, including having served as chairman for the Economic Development Panel of South Bend's City Plan process from 2003 through 2006. He had also served as treasurer for both the Community Oriented Policing Leadership Council and the North East Neighborhood Council. Also running in the Republican primary was William F. "Bill" Davis, a self-proclaimed "independent" who had challenged mayor Luecke for the Democratic nomination in the previous election. He had also run for other offices in the past, with his most recent campaign having been a 2008 St. Joseph County Commissioner's election in which he had received 40% of the vote. Davis was described by local reporter Ralph Heibutzki as the "least conventional" candidate in either party's primary. He received media attention for his troublesome history, which included periods in which he had stayed in prisons and in mental hospitals. Davis argued that his history was less relevant than the platform on which he was running. Additionally running was Wilson R. Taylor II, also known as Will Taylor. Taylor's career was as a real estate investor who flipped properties. Libertarian nomination The Libertarian Party nominated Patrick M. Farrell. General election ==2015==

The 2015 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 3, 2015. The election was won by incumbent Democrat Pete Buttigieg, who was reelected with more than 80 percent of the votes, defeating Republican Kelly Jones. Primaries Democratic primary Incumbent mayor Pete Buttigieg was challenged by outgoing 2nd district South Bend Common Council member Henry Davis. Republican primary Kelly Jones was unopposed in the Republican primary. Jones was a jewelry maker who had previously run unsuccessfully for a school board seat. and would subsequently fail to gain much notability during her candidacy. Republicans had unsuccessfully sought to recruit a more serious challenger to Buttigieg. General election ==2019==

The 2019 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 5, 2019. On December 17, 2018, incumbent two-term Democratic mayor Pete Buttigieg announced that he would not seek reelection to a third term. Speculation arose that Buttigieg was considering a run for President of the United States, and Buttigieg would later announce his 2020 presidential campaign. The general election race to succeed Buttigieg as mayor was between Democratic nominee James Mueller and Republican nominee Sean M. Haas. Mueller won the election by nearly 4,000 votes. Primaries The primary elections were held May 7. Democratic primary In February, Buttigieg endorsed candidate James Mueller as his preferred successor. • Jason Critchlow, senior project manager for a clinical research company and the former chairman of the St. Joseph County Democratic Party • Oliver Davis, 6th district South Bend City Councilor and vice-president of Common Council, former President of the Common Council • Regina Williams-Preston, 2nd District City Councilor and teacher • Richard O. Wright, Downtown South Bend Ambassador Withdrawn • Shane Inez, teenage entrepreneur • Salvador G. Rodriguez Declined to run • Pete Buttigieg, incumbent Mayor of South Bend, Democratic candidate for President of the United States • Ryan Dvorak, state representative and 2011 mayoral candidate • Michael Hamann, St. Joseph County Auditor, former St. Joseph County Council member, and 2011 mayoral candidate • Aaron Perri, South Bend Director of Venues, Parks and Arts and former executive director of Downtown South Bend • Tim Scott, 1st District South Bend City Councilor and Common Council President Results {{Election box begin no change Republican primary Sean M. Haas ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. General election ==2023==

The 2023 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 7, 2023. It saw the reelection of Democrat James Mueller. Primary elections were held on May 2, 2023. On November 7, 2023, Muller was reelected mayor with over 70 percent of the vote. Democratic primary Declared candidates • Henry Davis Jr., South Bend City Councilor (2007–2015; 2019–present), candidate for mayor in 2015 • James Mueller, incumbent mayor since 2019 {{Election box begin no change Republican primary Declared candidates • Desmont Upchurch {{Election box begin no change General election ==References==