Mayor Joe Hogsett has insisted that his ability to outraise his political opponents is “indicative of the people who share my vision for the future of Indianapolis.”
But the city’s archaic campaign finance portal has made it extraordinarily difficult for the citizens of Indianapolis to see who those people are.
So Mirror Indy/IndyStar created, for the first time ever, a searchable database of Hogsett’s campaign contributors. It includes names of donors and how much they gave to the Democrat going back to 2014.
An analysis by the news outlets found that Hogsett’s campaigns were not carried by an army of small donors. Donations that come from donors who give less than $100 per year amount to less than 1% of the money he’s raised since 2014.
Instead, Hogsett’s campaign fund is fueled largely by law firms, engineering companies and other powerbrokers, many of whom frequently do business with the city, according to a comparison of donor data to city contracting records and publicly available information on economic development.
Donating to a political campaign and then receiving government contracts or other deals is a common phenomenon in Indiana and across the country and doesn’t imply any wrongdoing. Some U.S. cities and states, though, have taken steps to limit or eliminate contributions from contractors to reduce the influence of big donors on city business.
“There’s an incentive for contractors to give campaign contributions even if it’s not a quid pro quo or bribery,” said Danielle Caputo, senior legal counsel for ethics at the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center. “They’re obviously trying to give donations to get their name in front of a candidate who will hopefully become an elected official who would be more inclined to hear from them and speak to them. It’s not illegal for that to be the case.”
Still, Hogsett has faced criticism for some of the contributions to his campaign, including during his first mayoral run, when he pledged to take on “downtown insiders.”
“The amounts he has collected from law firms, developers and engineering firms comes with a level of expectation that there will be city contracts in exchange,” said Chuck Brewer, Hogsett’s Republican opponent in 2015.
Hogsett, who outraised Brewer by a wide margin, dismissed the comment at the time, arguing that the contributions were an indication of strong support. If donors have expectations, Hogsett said, they should remember they are dealing with a former U.S. attorney.
In a recent statement, Hogsett’s spokesperson Aliya Wishner said city contracts are “never awarded based on campaign support.”
“Mayor Hogsett has always felt that he has a responsibility to every person who lives, works, or visits our city to shape a safe, vibrant and growing Indianapolis, regardless of whether they donated to or cast a ballot for him in an election,” the statement said.
Here’s who gave the most to Hogsett’s campaign since 2014 — and what kind of deals they’ve struck with the city:
Hogsett’s former law firm is his biggest contributor
Hogsett’s top donor is Bose McKinney & Evans, a law firm to which the mayor has deep ties. He was a partner there before becoming mayor. His disgraced chief of staff Thomas Cook used to work there, joining shortly after being forced to resign from the city. And Hogsett’s son is now employed there.
Bose attorneys have frequently been tapped to lobby on behalf of the city. When working for the city, Cook signed some of those contracts on behalf of Hogsett. Then, after leaving the city and joining Bose, Cook landed contracts with the city’s bond bank worth more than $100,000. Cook also represented several developers in front of the city, the news outlets have previously reported.
More recently, the city contracted with Bose attorney Michael O’Connor for up to $540,000 to manage the work of the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance.
In all, the law firm and its lobbying arm have received city contracts worth up to $4.3 million.
Bose, its attorneys and its lobbying arm have donated more than $1 million to Hogsett over the last decade.
Other law firms donate and do business with the city, too
Another top donor is Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, a law firm where Hogsett’s former special counsel, Tim Moriarty, and the city’s former corporation counsel, Matt Giffin, now work. Both men have provided services to the city since joining Faegre. Another Faegre attorney, A. Scott Chinn, was part of Hogsett’s transition team and served as counsel on the Community Justice Campus and the city’s effort to establish a professional sports development area in pursuit of a Major League Soccer stadium.
In all, Faegre has received contracts worth up to $7.5 million.
The firm and its attorneys have given $441,000 to the mayor’s campaign.
In all, city and county agencies have awarded contracts worth up to $26 million to attorneys and law firms. Several others, including Taft, Stettenius & Hollister and Barnes & Thornburg, are among Hogsett’s top donors.
Many of these contracts were awarded without a competitive process, despite a Hogsett promise to increase competition for professional services contracts wherever feasible.
In addition to doing business with the city directly, many law firms also lobby for companies that do business with the city. Taft, for example, in 2024 represented developer Ersal Ozdemir of Keystone Group in front of the City-County Council. Hogsett had recently pulled his support for Keystone’s proposed multi-use development, which would have included a 20,000-seat soccer stadium. At the time, the council was considering a special sports tax district for an alternative site, which Keystone opposed.
More recently, donor law firms have represented controversial data center proposals. A Bose attorney represented Metrobloks for the proposed Martindale Brightwood facility, and Faegre lobbied on behalf of Sabey Data Centers, which has proposed a data center on the south side.
Developer’s company is major donor
Some of Hogsett’s top individual donors have also landed lucrative city deals.
Mirror Indy/IndyStar previously reported as part of this series that Browning Investments received a $1.2 million no-bid contract to produce a 472-page report on potential redevelopment of Old City Hall and the City-County Building. The news outlets initially requested the report in January 2025, but the city refuses to provide a copy. A Browning affiliate was also selected to develop a professional building at the Community Justice Campus.
Michael Browning, the company’s founder who bankrolled Hogsett’s first inaugural gala, has donated $619,000 to Hogsett over the last decade.
Pacers owners give heavily
Pacers Sports & Entertainment owner Herb Simon has donated $438,000 to Hogsett’s mayoral campaigns, making him the fourth largest individual contributor. Billionaire Steven Rales, who owns a minority stake in the Pacers, has given $126,000 since 2022.
The city selected Simon’s company to develop a $78 million performance center for the Indiana Fever on the site of a former county jail. The project was awarded without competition, even though a city official previously said the city would ask developers to submit proposals, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal.
In a statement, Hogsett called the Fever project “without question one of the most impactful economic development decisions made by my administration in the past year.”
“In fact, even before it has opened its doors, the privately funded Fever Sports Performance Facility has already become a nationwide model for what investment in women’s sports should look like,” he said. “To suggest that investing in the future of the Indiana Fever is not the best use of the Jail 1 site is disrespectful to the team, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, and the City’s goal to make Indy the women’s sports capital of the world.”
Pacers Sports & Entertainment President and CEO Mel Raines said in a statement provided to reporters earlier this year that the project is part of a four-decade sports strategy that has driven economic impact for the city.
“This investment will continue to grow our downtown core and further our reputation as the epicenter of women’s sports,” she said.
Engineering firms contribute thousands
Engineering firms also collectively top Hogsett’s list of donors. Like law firms, many of these companies receive lucrative contracts with the city.
Those companies include American Structurepoint, HNTB Corporation, DLZ and 7NT, among several others. They, their executives or their political action committees have given more than $900,000 to Hogsett’s campaigns.
Hogsett’s other top donors
Not all of Hogsett’s major donors have such a clear business relationship with the city.
Along with Browning, two members of the Simon family are among the top three individual contributors: Cindy Simon Skjodt and Deborah Simon. The pair of philanthropists are the daughters of the late Melvin Simon — Herb’s brother and Pacers partner — and frequently give to Democratic or progressive causes.
Trade union PACs including those for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners also rank among Hogsett’s largest contributors. So does the FireFighters Local 416 PAC.
Christel DeHaan, the late businesswoman and philanthropist, is also among Hogsett’s top donors.
Some cities, states limit contributions
Hogsett is far from the only politician overseeing a government that does business with the elected official’s campaign donors.
For example, former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, Hogsett’s Republican predecessor, reportedly received at least $221,000 from contractors that worked on his infrastructure improvement agenda. Secretary of State Diego Morales, also a Republican, has also come under fire for awarding no-bid contracts to donors who have contributed thousands to his campaign.
Looking nationally, it’s easy to find examples of politicians receiving donations from people or businesses that also benefit from work with the government.
Although a common practice in many places, extensive fundraising from city contractors is prohibited or curtailed in some other U.S. cities and states.
For example, Chicago and Philadelphia limit how much money lobbyists and certain city contractors can donate to mayors, elected officials and political candidates to prevent conflicts of interest. Connecticut outright bans what it refers to as “pay-to-play” contributions and California recently tightened its own laws on the subject.
But Indiana cities must defer to state law, which allows individuals to give as much money as they want to political campaigns. Corporations and unions face caps of up to $22,000 a year in total to all state and local candidates. They can give up to $2,000 a year overall to candidates for local office.
That restriction does not apply to many businesses, such as limited liability partnerships or limited liability companies. It also doesn’t apply to political action committees. A PAC affiliated with American Structurepoint, for instance, has donated more than $83,000 to Hogsett over the last decade. The company is also one of the city’s top public works contractors.
Indiana law prevents cities and towns from imposing stricter campaign finance laws. A judge blocked a 2017 “pay-to-play” ordinance passed by the Fort Wayne City Council that tried to bar companies from getting certain contracts if they or their top executives donated more than $2,000 to local candidates within a year.
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Emily Hopkins is a senior reporter at Mirror Indy. You can reach them by phone or Signal at 317-790-5268 or email at emily.hopkins@mirrorindy.org. Follow them on most social media @indyemapolis or on Bluesky @emilyhopkins.bsky.social.
Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
Hayleigh Colombo is an investigative reporter for IndyStar. Contact her at hcolombo@indystar.com or @hayleighcolombo on X.
Contact IndyStar Indianapolis City Hall Reporter Jordan Smith at JTSmith@indystar.com. Follow him on X @jordantsmith09.
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