INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s most conspicuous Democrat — Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett — is hemorrhaging support on the City-County Council after a third member of his party called for his resignation.
It comes at a fraught time, as President Donald Trump has ordered heightened immigration enforcement in blue cities, while Senate Enrolled Act 1 is poised to slice into the city’s $1.5 billion budget, raising the specter of controversial tax hikes.
Hogsett is under intense pressure due to sexual harassment allegations made against his former chief of staff, Thomas Cook, and what has been described as a “toxic culture” in his administration.
“Joe Hogsett must resign,” Councilor Christa Carlino said at Tuesday’s City-County Council meeting, telling the IndyStar afterward, “I share grave concerns about sort of the marching orders given to the law firm being lightyears away from the spirit of the law that was written and intended.”
Carlino joins Democratic Councilors Andy Nielsen and Jesse Brown and Republican Councilor Joshua Bain in calling for the three-term mayor’s resignation.
Last week, the Indianapolis Business Journal also called for Hogsett to step down: “Indianapolis needs a mayor who is putting all of his or her focus on the serious challenges and opportunities that come with running the state’s biggest city and one of the Midwest’s economic drivers.”
Hogsett has vowed to remain in office.
“I certainly have no intent to resign,” Hogsett told the IndyStar. “We just have still so much important work to do, not only to ensure the confidentiality and the safety of every employee.”
Whether Hogsett follows the path of former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, who refused to resign in 2019 after a past racist photo became public, or that of former U.S. Sen. Al Franken, who resigned in 2018 after sexual harassment allegations, remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, political storm clouds are gathering.
Gov. Mike Braun’s signing of SEA 1 is poised to slice municipal budgets dramatically.
“When you’re talking about a catastrophic bill, there has been nothing more catastrophic to local municipalities in 50 years than Senate Bill 1,” Democratic Goshen Mayor Gina Leichty told her city council in an account recently published by The Goshen News. “We’re not talking about chump change here — it’s 38% of our budget.”
Over the weekend, Trump threatened to dispatch more state National Guards, federal troops and ICE officers to Democratic cities in a further immigration crackdown that brought federal troops to Los Angeles.
“We must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center. That is why I want ICE, Border Patrol, and our Great and Patriotic Law Enforcement Officers, to FOCUS on our crime ridden and deadly Inner Cities.”
Indianapolis is not a “sanctuary city” due to an Indiana law requiring that local governments and their employees communicate or cooperate with federal immigration authorities regarding individuals’ immigration status.
But Indianapolis is the bluest city in the state and its most impactful Democratic stronghold.
During the 2020 civil disturbances following George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minnesota, Hogsett said he had been working from home. He did not make a public appearance for three days following the riots. He finally issued a curfew order after two days of unrest. Before that, Gov. Eric Holcomb had ordered the Indiana National Guard and Indiana State Police to secure state property downtown.
From a political standpoint, the Cook allegations consuming the Hogsett administration have damaged the Indiana Democratic Party brand. In the crucial 2024 election, some 350,000 fewer Democrats voted than in 2020, despite it being the first presidential election since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that restricted abortion rights.
Indianapolis saw 394,554 votes cast, a 58.8% turnout, in 2020, dropping to 358,036 votes, a 55% turnout, in 2024.
Democratic operative Elise Shrock connected those dots in an IndyStar op-ed published Tuesday. “The Indiana Democratic Party cannot afford to look away any longer,” she wrote. “Mayor Joe Hogsett has lost the moral clarity to lead and must resign. There are others who can do that job far better, and to the degree the people of Indianapolis deserve. The truth is here. And so am I. Even now — especially now — I’m still fighting for what’s right.”
That prompted Indiana Democratic Chairwoman Karen Tallian to say in a statement, “Within days of each other, I watched two startling events unfold on video. U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla was strong-armed out of a Republican-controlled press conference by law enforcement, shoved to the ground, and handcuffed. Americans watched in outrage. At the June 9, 2025 City-County Council meeting in Indianapolis, controlled by Democrats, multiple women were forcibly shoved out of a public meeting, while Hoosiers watched in outrage.
“Both of these incidents were appalling to watch and excruciating to acknowledge. Forcibly removing people from a public meeting is not the way we fix our problems and settle our issues in a democratic society. This applies to both parties!”
Brian A. Howey is a senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Follow him on X @hwypol and Blue Sky @hwypol.bsky.social.
