Marion County Democratic Chair Kate Sweeney Bell resigns – Indianapolis Business Journal

Marion County Democratic Party Chair Kate Sweeney Bell. (IBJ Photo/Eric Learned)

Kate Sweeney Bell, candidate for Marion County clerk and current county recorder, resigned Monday as the county’s Democratic party chair—several months earlier than expected.

In an email to Indianapolis Democrats, Bell said the significance of the upcoming election led to her decision to resign early. She said party unity is important.

“I passionately believe that the Marion County Democratic Party must be single-minded in ensuring we help our candidates win up and down the ballot in a few short months,” Bell said in the statement.

Bell told IBJ in April she would resign if she won the race for county clerk in November.

Bell’s dual roles as elected county recorder and county chair have caused  controversy. In February, some Black Marion County Democrats called on Bell to resign, accusing her of running discriminatory selection processes for precinct committee people and slating and alleging conflicts of interest in that process. 

Bell was chair of the party for five years, during which all countywide seats remained Democratic. Bell has repeatedly touted the diversity of the county party under her leadership and did so again in her resignation announcement.

“And importantly, we did all of this while doubling the number of women on the [City-County] Council, improving the diversity of our countywide tickets, and convening the most diverse Central Committee in the party’s history,” her statement said.

Bell is facing Republican Andrew Harrison in the November race for Marion County Clerk.

Indiana State Democratic Chair Mike Schmuhl applauded Sweeney Bell’s work in a statement, citing Mayor Joe Hogsett’s reelection and the Democratic supermajority in the City-County Council.

“Kate Sweeney Bell was a fearless chairwoman for the Marion County Democratic Party, and through her work, she ushered in an era where Democrats have dominated city and county elections up and down the ticket,” Schmuhl said.

Sweeney Bell did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. In May, she told IBJ she had confidence in the Marion County Democratic Central Committee to make the correct choice in her successor.