You might expect a candidate who lost by three percentage points to feel disappointed on election night.
Karla López Owens, though, was in high spirits.
“Look at those numbers. That’s fantastic,” she said.
López Owens was surrounded by her supporters at the westside Ritz Lounge Tuesday to watch the Democratic primary election results roll in.
By 10 p.m., it became clear that she would lose to Kate Sweeney Bell, the Marion County Clerk, in the May 5 Democratic primary election, but not by much.
Marion County election results
Supporters of López Owens think the close margin is a sign that Democratic voters are growing tired of the status quo, though political observers have cautioned not to read too much into the results given Marion County’s low voter turnout in Tuesday’s primary election.
With 100% of vote centers reporting, Bell has 48.4% of votes, while López Owens has 45.6%. Provisional and mail-in ballots have not been counted.
A third candidate, Bobby Kern, who died in April, received 6% of votes. Under Indiana law, county election boards are not allowed to remove the name of a deceased candidate from a ballot once printed ballots have been mailed out.
Bell did not respond to a request for comment, but she declared victory in a post on her Facebook page and called on Democrats to come together in November.
“This upcoming General Election isn’t about any one person; it’s about securing fair and free elections, protecting access to the ballot, and fighting radical partisan attempts to rig maps, make voting harder, and silence our voices,” the statement read.
Bell will face Republican Robbin Stewart, who ran unopposed, in November.
Incumbents mostly win
López Owens is one of several Democrats in Marion County who challenged incumbent candidates but came up short.
In the 7th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. André Carson defended his seat against three primary challengers.
Rep. John Bartlett, who has represented House District 95 on the east side since 2007, defeated two opponents.
Pike Township Trustee Annette Johnson fended off challenges from Melody Barber-Hence and Claudette Peterson, who serves on the Pike Township Board.
One exception is the Lawrence Township Trustee’s race, where incumbent Steve Talley lost to challenger Lisa Chavis. Talley is a long-time political figure who spent 11 years as trustee and another 13 on the city-county council.
‘Reject the establishment’
López Owens ran on an anti-establishment platform, calling for more transparency and accountability in local government. She’s spoken critically of Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration, and of county party chair Myla Eldridge for removing Democratic candidates from the ballot.
López Owens works as director for community outreach in the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and is past president of the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus.
Bell raised about $47,000 toward her reelection. Her donors included City-County Council President Maggie Lewis, past president Vop Osili, Eldridge, and Tim Moriarty, a partner at Faegre Drinker and Hogsett’s former special counsel. Bell also received a $15,000 donation from Faegre Drinker.
López Owens raised about $23,000; her supporters include Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears and state Sen. Andrea Hunley, who is running for mayor in 2027.
Supporters of López Owens believe her campaign sent a clear message: Democrats in Marion County are ready for new leadership.
“I think there’s a number of people who are looking for new leadership in this city,” Mears said. “There’s just a lot of challenges that we’ve seen in our city, and we have not seen a lot of solutions to some of these issues.”
But some political observers are cautious to draw too many conclusions from the results, given that only about 15.8% of registered voters in Marion County actually voted in the primary. While that was the highest percentage since at least 2010, it’s still a small sampling of the electorate.
“We’re still talking about a small percentage of people that chose to participate,” said Gregory Shufeldt, associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis. “That’s with a competitive congressional primary and a lot of money being pumped into races throughout the area.”
But for López Owens and her supporters, her loss to Bell isn’t a failure. It’s a sign that the grip of the Democratic establishment is loosening.
“Look at what we can do when we all come together and just reject the establishment,” she said. “This is not working for us anymore.”
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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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