Black faith leaders call on Indiana Democratic Party chair to resign

Following last week’s brutal election for Indiana Democrats, Black faith leaders in Indianapolis are calling on party chair Mike Schmuhl to resign, citing a “lack of progress” under his leadership.
Democrats nationwide are reckoning with their staggering losses and what that means for the party’s brand and strategy. In Indiana, despite polls at one point showing close matchups, the statewide races for governor and attorney general ended up being blow-out wins for Republicans, and Democrats did not flip any seats in the Statehouse, leaving the General Assembly dominated by a Republican supermajority.
More:Democrats thought state races could be close, but Republicans clobbered. What happened?
That Indiana Democrats didn’t lose any ground this cycle is an upside in the state party’s eyes, but the clergy calling for Schmuhl’s immediate resignation said they don’t see any progress.
“We have seen enough, we have given Mike time enough,” Rev. David Greene, president of the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, told IndyStar. “Data says there needs to be a change.”
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Greene cosigned a press release along with Rev. Wayne Moore, president of the Baptist Minister’s Alliance, calling for a change in leadership.
Schmuhl was elected to his four-year term as chair in 2021. The South Bend native previously managed the mayoral and presidential campaigns of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
In a statement, the state party acknowledged a need to “do better” and noted that the party will undergo its regular reorganization at the county, district and state levels, as it does every four years, this March. Schmuhl is spending the next few weeks connecting with Democrats around the state and will likely make a decision before the end of the year on whether to run for another term.
“We are all disappointed by the results this year in Indiana and across the country,” the statement reads. “We must do better and we invite all stakeholders to be a part of the discussion moving forward.”
There are two problems, Greene said: The state party lacked a cohesive strategy to unify campaigns up and down the ballot, leaving candidates working in silos; and, the party and its campaigns took their base ― voters in urban cores like Indianapolis, Evansville and Fort Wayne ― for granted.
On the strategy piece, Greene said Democratic supporters such as himself did not have clarity on how the party planned to translate the momentum from the Democratic National Convention, where Vice President Kamala Harris was enshrined as the presidential candidate, to wins in Indiana.
For example, there was no coordinated ground campaign with U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, who handily won reelection. Individual candidates seemed to be on their own, aside from one get-out-the-vote rally in October. Some primary battles, like the attorney general race where Beth White and Destiny Wells competed for the delegates’ vote, might have had the effect of turning off some Democrat voters upset by the infighting, he said.
“I don’t think there’s a silver bullet that fixes all of it, but I think we collectively must have a strategy,” Greene said. “We want to see different results, we need to get a strategy that’s communicated to all the Democrats in Indiana. Otherwise, if you’re the younger ones, why run? Why put yourself through it? And then there will always be turmoil in the party.”
Nationwide and in Indiana, the core did not turn out in large numbers for Democrats. Only 54% of Marion County voters turned out this election ― among the lowest showing since the 1950s.
Greene said the party didn’t do enough work to energize this base. Statewide candidates spent a lot of time trying to appeal to rural voters and moderate Republicans, because they needed a sizeable amount of crossover voters to actually win in Indiana ― but that thinking is based on an assumption that the core urban voters would automatically turn out in full force.
“That’s a bad assumption,” Greene said.
In its statement, the party said it directly reached out to hundreds of thousands of voters this election season, the most it’s done in six years. Still, in the statement party officials pledged to “grow that number more and hear from voices throughout our state in the coming months.”
The party also pointed to its launch of a “Hoosiers for Harris” project as well as national investment from groups like the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Governors Association. It pointed out that “many other states weren’t as fortunate” as Indiana to not lose any seats in the legislature.
“Last year, we elected a record number of Black mayors across our state and we are proud to have a diverse staff representing communities across our state,” the party noted. “We always welcome constructive dialogue to strengthen our party.”
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer [email protected] or follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @kayla_dwyer17.