Stephanie Record didn’t want to miss the moment.
She needed to get to the second floor of Tinker House Events, where Andrea Hunley was about to deliver a speech to officially launch her run for mayor.
But a security guard wasn’t letting anyone upstairs: The room was at capacity.
Record found a workaround. She saw a reporter being escorted to the back of the events center and followed him. Then she convinced a Team Hunley volunteer to let her up the back stairwell, too.
“If I’m being honest, this is the most engaged I’ve been in politics in my whole life,” Record said.
The excitement and enthusiasm around Hunley’s campaign was palpable May 8 inside Tinker House Events in Martindale Brightwood, where a sold-out crowd of 1,500 people gathered to celebrate. She first announced the run to the media April 20.
Her supporters came in various forms: Artists and small business owners, lawmakers and township trustees, campaign volunteers and union members. Even some of her former students were in attendance.
And they greeted her with thunderous applause.
“Hunley is a huge part of why I entered the field of education,” Marissa Williams, who had Hunley for a teacher during her sophomore year of high school, told the crowd gathered on the second floor. “She didn’t just teach the curriculum, she inspired me.”
The teacher inside Hunley still comes out sometimes. When it was her turn to take the mic, she asked the audience to indulge her with a group activity: Close your eyes and imagine the Indianapolis you want to see 10 years from now.
She paused for a moment, then shared her vision.
“I see a city where our riverfront is alive with trails and parks and music, and people not just visiting the city and passing through for an event, but a city where people are planting down roots,” she said. “I see a city known as the women’s sports capital of the world. I see public schools so strong that when people say ‘school choice,’ staying in Indianapolis is the obvious answer.”
Hunley has big dreams for Indy, but first, she’ll need to get through what’s expected to be a grueling 18-month campaign.
Hunley’s appeal
A state senator and former educator, Hunley has been quietly eyeing a run for mayor for the past year or so. Her name came up as a possible candidate as early as January. She did not run for reelection to her current office and her term ends this year.
Her supporters describe her as an authentic candidate and confident leader who will usher in much-needed change in local government.
“She’s inspiring, and she’s not asleep at the wheel, like the people that are currently in charge of Marion County politics,” said Nabeela Virjee, a former city attorney who served in Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration during his first term.
Hunley appears to have several Democratic councilors already in her corner: Jesse Brown, Andy Nielsen and Crista Wells were all at the launch party, as were state Rep. Blake Johnson and state Sen. La Keisha Jackson.
But to win the mayor’s race, Hunley will need more than people power.
The road ahead
Hunley is the third candidate to enter what is already shaping up to be a highly competitive Democratic primary election in May 2027.
Vop Osili, an architect and city-county councilor who served as council president for eight years, declared his candidacy in January. David Bride, an administrator in the city’s Department of Public Works, announced his run last month. There are no Republican candidates who have announced intentions to run.
If Hunley wants to be competitive, she’ll need to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to catch up with Osili, who has more than half a million dollars in his campaign account. Hunley, by contrast, has about $100,000 in her Senate campaign account.
Indiana state Sen. Andrea Hunley waits to be introduced. Credit: Brett Phelps/Mirror Indy/CatchLight Local/Report for America 
Hunley makes her way up the stairs at her sold-out campaign launch event. Credit: Brett Phelps/Mirror Indy/CatchLight Local/Report for America 
Indiana state Sen. Andrea Hunley, a Democrat, reacts while audience members cheer. Credit: Brett Phelps/Mirror Indy/CatchLight Local/Report for America 
Andrea Hunley wipes her eyes as she is introduced. Credit: Brett Phelps/Mirror Indy/CatchLight Local/Report for America 
Hunley’s mayoral campaign launch event reached capacity. Credit: Brett Phelps/Mirror Indy/CatchLight Local/Report for America 
Audience members cheer as Hunley speaks. Credit: Brett Phelps/Mirror Indy/CatchLight Local/Report for America 
Hunley hugs attendees of her “Party for the People” event. Credit: Brett Phelps/Mirror Indy/CatchLight Local/Report for America 
Hunley hugs attendees of her “Party for the People” event. Credit: Brett Phelps/Mirror Indy/CatchLight Local/Report for America
And then there’s Hogsett, who hasn’t ruled out running for a fourth term. He has more than $1.1 million to burn. He could use that to fund his own campaign or back a candidate of his choosing — some speculate that could be Osili, who gave $30,000 to Hogsett’s 2023 reelection campaign.
Some of Hunley’s supporters, though, are ready to roll out the red carpet to what would be a historic win. If elected, she would be both the first Black person and woman to serve as mayor.
“Some of you are looking at our city’s first Black mayor,” said Sampson Levingston, a historian who leads walking tours of Indianapolis, before introducing Hunley to the hyped-up crowd. “This is history right now.”
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Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
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