Schmuhl will not seek re-election as Indiana Democratic Party Chair

Submitted by Indiana Democratic Party

Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl announced to the State Central Committee on Saturday morning that he will not seek another term as Chairman of the Party. He will serve as Chair until his term ends when a new Chair is elected on March 15, 2025.

Schmuhl’s remarks follow.

“I want to thank the State Central Committee and Democrats across Indiana for entrusting me with this role almost four years ago. I know how hard it can be to be a Democrat in Indiana, and over the past four years we have placed our party on a path to future success by protecting what we have and building new bases of support.

“It was my goal as Chair for our party to be present in every part of our state, listen, and show that Democrats can get results for Hoosiers. I also know what we are up against: some of the lowest voter turnout in the Midwest, highly gerrymandered maps, no citizen-led referendums, and superminority status. Despite the headwinds, we’ve made progress, our bench is bigger, and our party has more tools and more people involved in the political process to be successful. 

“More Hoosiers have a Democratic mayor now than they did last year. We nominated great candidates for public office every year and I was privileged to work with a fantastic and dedicated team. We also tripled our overall number of donors from four years ago to boost our overall organizational strength and competitiveness. I want to thank Hoosier Democrats for allowing me to do this work, and I look forward to the day when Indiana has a more balanced government to serve the people of our great state.” 

Under Schmuhl’s leadership, the State Party rebounded from a low in votes and support in the 2020 election. Democrats held their 30 seats in the State House of Representatives through the 2024 elections, with a number of close races in the most recent cycle and also in 2022.

On the local level, Indiana Democrats flipped six of Indiana’s 50 largest cities, including Evansville, West Lafayette, Lawrence, Michigan City, Terre Haute, and Hobart, while also winning historic council majorities in Valparaiso and Muncie. Democrats also took over 42 percent of the vote in Carmel’s mayoral election in 2023, the closest mayoral contest in the city’s history.

Schmuhl’s leadership on both the Democratic National Committee Executive Committee and the Association of State Democratic Committees Executive Committee brought more national funding to Indiana for staffing, data, communications, research, and organizing programs. He will continue to advocate for this support in his final months in office.

Moreover, national Democratic funding came to the state’s gubernatorial contest, which was widely considered as uncompetitive heading into the 2024 cycle. The race ended up as the third-closest gubernatorial contest nationally in 2024, and Mike Braun’s 13.3% victory was the smallest Republican margin in a statewide race in six years. Jennifer McCormick also earned over 200,000 more votes than Democrats did in the same race four years earlier.

Nationally-targeted by Republicans, Rep. Frank Mrvan won reelection to his northwest Indiana district in 2022 and by an even larger margin in 2024. Rep. Andre Carson also expanded on his margin from two years ago as he cruised to reelection this year.

Schmuhl led two successful union contract negotiations with party staff, which led to pay increases and strong health benefits. Staff came from across the Hoosier State and expanded due to increased fundraising.

The State Party now heads into 2025 and 2026 with an opportunity to build on the gains made under Chairman Schmuhl. Democrats continued to make inroads in the suburbs of Indianapolis – one of the only places in the entire Midwest where Democrats did better in 2024 than 2020. In total, nine Indiana counties shifted more Democratic than four years ago. The same cannot be said for any neighboring states.

In 2022, State Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn and State Sen. JD Ford both won in their suburban districts, and in 2024, Garcia Wilburn became the first Democrat to win their portion of Hamilton County on the state level.

The State Party also held over 150 events in every corner of Indiana over the last four years, working to rebuild local party organizations and recruit candidates for office.

Schmuhl previously served as Campaign Manager for Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 Presidential Campaign, and for former Sen. Joe Donnelly during his 2010 reelection to Congress. He first joined the State Central Committee in 2011 at the age of 28 and rejoined 10 years later when he was elected chairman in 2021.