The Hogsett-must-resign case is weak

Indianapolis Star

18 hours ago

The case against Mayor Joe Hogsett is devolving into factional grousing among people who want a different mayor but don't know how to accomplish that through the course of regular politics.
Hogsett is no doubt worthy of condemnation. A year of sexual harassment investigations, in which I have played a role, revealed Hogsett infused his campaigns and administration with a toxic culture. Staffers were subject to harassment while working under his authority. Hogsett had opportunities to fix it and prevent further harm. He failed.
Women who experienced trauma while working under Hogsett are justified to continue pushing for accountability. The City-County Council's forcible removal of Lauren Roberts on June 9 is a stomach-turning illustration of what it's like for women to tell their stories. Roberts deserved the opportunity to address the council with dignity. Instead, she was treated like an intruder.
The ongoing spectacle has emboldened Hogsett's preexisting enemies to shoot their shot at a weakened mayor. Four City-County Council members and many other notable community voices, including the Indianapolis Business Journal, have called on Hogsett to resign.
I'm willing to listen to those arguments. So far, though, they have been underwhelming.
Democrat Crista Carlino delivered the most explosive call for Hogsett's resignation during a June 17 committee meeting. She didn't stop at Hogsett. She also called for Council President Vop Osili and Vice President Ali Brown to step down, alleging they delivered unspecified "marching orders" to Fisher Phillips, the Chicago law firm that investigated the Hogsett administration on behalf of the council.
The Fisher Phillips report did leave out details that should have been considered relevant. But Carlino chaired the council committee that led the investigation. She did not express concerns about a cover-up at any point during that process or immediately after the law firm issued its report.
People who want to speak truth to power need to bring … well, truth. Carlino later acknowledged she had "no claim or proof" that council leadership "personally and directly impacted the investigation." That's something you might want to have before publicly alleging a conspiracy to protect the mayor.
Andy Nielsen, a council Democrat who did speak up immediately after seeing the Fisher Phillips report, has called on Hogsett to resign because he has demonstrated "a profound lack of judgement and disregard for fundamental ethics."
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While that may be true, the leap from "lack of judgment" to "resign now" relies more on vibes than logic. No one calling on Hogsett to resign has presented a convincing argument that he violated an objective standard of conduct in ways that should trigger immediate removal from office — nor have they even attempted to explain how this standard could be equally applied to all other office-holders. They just want Hogsett gone.
It's easy to nod along. We know Hogsett presided over organizations permitting rampant sexual harassment and abusive behavior. We know Hogsett sent text messages that veered into inappropriate levels of intimacy with young women who worked for him.
But there's also a lot of gray there as it pertains to the mayor himself. Based on what we know 100% to be true today, Hogsett has not even been accused of behavior that would typically force an elected official out of office.
That lack of evidence is forcing Hogsett's longtime critics, who have always struggled to prosecute a case against him, to overreach in hopes that the bad vibes will be enough to push him out.
Consider the IBJ's editorial calling for Hogsett's resignation. The IBJ wants Hogsett out because he skipped a press conference for a homelessness initiative amid his swirling controversy and because the "Hogsett administration has never been able to articulate a clear strategy for the city, a message or a plan through which business and community leaders could rally."
Well, former Gov. Mike Pence wasn't exactly a sought-after guest for ribbon cuttings during his RFRA era. Yet, he was as unmoved by the ensuing "Pence Must Go" yard signs as Hogsett is by calls for him to step down.
As for a lack of vision, that judgment is reserved for the Marion County voters who have overwhelmingly elected Hogsett three times. Whatever you think of Hogsett, no one — not Republicans and not competing Democratic factions — has mounted effective opposition based on an alternative vision for Indianapolis.
Briggs: Hogsett's texts to women show Indianapolis mayor embodied toxic culture
Republicans have forgotten how to talk to people who enjoy living in Indianapolis since the days when former Mayor Greg Ballard championed bus rapid transit, electric car sharing and urban trails. Jefferson Shreve's dour $14.4 million all-crime-all-the-time campaign in 2023 showed just how far out of touch Republicans have fallen. Meanwhile, Democrats on Hogsett's left have failed to grapple with the mayor's enduring popularity among people who aren't constantly online.
Political frustrations are likely fueling the Hogsett-must-go bandwagon. A lot of people want Hogsett out of office, but no one has been able, or willing, to directly challenge him. It's curious that a chronically inept executive, or so the criticism goes, wields such prohibitive power. The calls for Hogsett's resignation amount to a wish that he would just go away — and that he could be replaced through a Democratic Party caucus vote instead of a more difficult countywide election.
Hogsett is not going away. There's a stronger chance that Hogsett runs for reelection — and wins — in 2027 than resigns before the end of his third term. While the City-County Council turns itself into a sideshow and the mayor's opponents make futile calls for him to self-deport, Hogsett is raising money and no doubt looking on like Logan Roy in "Succession," thinking, "You are not serious people."
Anyone who wants a different future for Indianapolis needs to start thinking less about Hogsett's past sins and more about how to either defeat him or win a mayoral campaign without him. IndyStar's Hayleigh Colombo recently wrote about the shadow campaign underway for 2027. The most striking thing to me about the article was that the strongest mayoral contenders are moving tepidly, afraid to go all in.
Osili, who has been preparing for years to run for mayor, is dealing with the aftermath of removing Roberts from the council chamber. Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears says he's running for reelection to his current job in 2026. State Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis, also plans to run for reelection in 2026.
Opinion: I was dragged out by sheriff's deputies. Indiana Democrats stayed silent.
Hogsett, awash in scandal and having pledged not to run in 2027, is the only person who appears prepared to run. Every person complaining about Hogsett's lack of leadership needs to hold up a mirror. Who in Indianapolis is demonstrating strong political leadership right now?
Hogsett is a deeply flawed person whose mistakes have harmed people. That's a good reason to want him out of office. But it's not going to happen through wishing him away or cathartic calls for resignation. It's going to happen when someone mounts a viable campaign anchored in a compelling new vision for the future.