Mayor John Hamilton is officially running unopposed in the 2019 Bloomington mayoral race.
Monroe County Elections Supervisor Karen Wheeler confirmed in a July 1 interview with WFIU that independent candidate Nile Arena did not have enough signatures on a petition to be on the November ballot.
Hamilton won the Democratic nomination after former Monroe County commissioner and mayoral candidate Amanda Barge left the race following sexual harassment allegations reported by the Indiana Daily Student.
After Barge left the race, Arena announced his intention to run for mayor. He needed to receive 522 signatures on his petition by July 1. Arena said he ended up being roughly 230-250 signatures short of the goal.
“I’m happy to have tried,” Arena said.
Arena said while he is not sure if he’ll run for public office in the future, he wants to remain engaged with the Bloomington community and speak for people who feel they don’t have a voice in the current government.
Hamilton and incumbent City Clerk Nicole Bolden are now both unopposed in their races. The Bloomington municipal election will take place Nov. 5.
