Bloomington deputy mayor Don Griffin, Jr. filed paperwork Dec. 2 to become a candidate for mayor of Bloomington in 2023.
Bloomington City Council President Susan Sandberg and former Monroe County Habitat for Humanity CEO Kerry Thomson are the two other declared candidates for the mayoral nomination of the Democratic party. Both launched their campaigns in November after formally indicating interest in running in June.
Related: [Kerry Thomson forms principal committee for mayoral run]
Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton announced two weeks ago that he will not be running for reelection in 2023, after serving two terms and eight years.
Related: [Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton announces he will not run for reelection in 2023]
Griffin has served as deputy mayor since April 2021 after being appointed by Hamilton. He oversees 16 City departments and 850 employees implementing the Hamilton administration's policies, according to a news release from the city in 2021.
Related: [What’s next for Indiana politics post-2022 midterm elections?]
Griffin, a Bloomington native, founded and owns real estate agency Griffin Realty Holdings, Inc., according to the release. He has served as president of the City's Redevelopment Commission and vice president of the Monroe County Branch of the NAACP. He co-founded and served as president of the Monroe County Black Democratic Caucus.
Griffin served on the board of local nonprofits organizations such as the Eskenazi Museum of Art, the Monroe County History Center, the Bloomington Board of Realtors, The Project School, Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County and Lotus World Music Festival.
Griffin and Sandberg have filed paperwork with the Monroe County election division to establish a campaign committee, and Thomson filed to form a principal committee to run for mayor. The three mayoral candidacies will not be official until declarations of candidacy can be filed in January 2023.
Related: [Susan Sandberg forms exploratory committee to run for mayor of Bloomington]
