This story is part of the IDS’ national convention coverage. Follow reporter Mia Hilkowitz on X and IDS social media for updates.
CHICAGO — Three Bloomington government officials will be among the crowd as thousands of Democrats convene this week in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention.
Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson, City Clerk Nicole Bolden and City Councilmember Sydney Zulich will serve as three of Indiana’s delegates at the convention. Bolden and Zulich are delegates for Indiana’s ninth congressional district, while Thomson is a pledged party leader and elected official, which, combined with at-large representatives, are statewide delegates. Indiana has more than 80 delegates attending the convention in Chicago.
While the primary goal of this week’s convention is to officially nominate candidates for president and vice president, the three Bloomington delegates have their own goals for the event, including networking with other municipal political leaders and learning how to mobilize voters.
Representation at the convention
Bolden said while she doesn’t have a defined list of people she hopes to connect with, she has set her sights high on meeting current Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris during the convention.
“I grew up in Iowa, so growing up we got to meet presidential candidates all the time,” Bolden said. “Once I moved to Indiana, that was no longer a given. It was an effort. And I’m like ‘oh, this could work. This could really happen,’ so that’s exciting.”
Bolden said she wants to meet other members of the Good Trouble Network, a coalition of Black LGBTQ+ elected officials across the country, which she co-chairs. She also said she is interested in attending meetings for the DNC's women’s caucus and Black caucus to learn more about issues and policies affecting these groups.
“I’m more interested, right now at least, in systems and seeing kind of what’s available and who’s in the room and who’s not in the room,” Bolden said. “So that maybe we can make some good changes.”
She said she believes getting young people to this and future conventions is important to the future of the party.
“I mean, to be frank, I’m getting older now, so I’m not going to be [at the convention] 30 years from now, fighting the good fight,” she said. “Or at least I hope not. But I hope I can get other people who can.”
One of those young people is city councilmember and IU alumna Sydney Zulich. Running for office when she was 20, she made history as the youngest person to ever serve on the Bloomington City Council when she started her term in January. Zulich said she hopes to meet other Democrats who live and govern in majority Republican states.
“Bloomington in particular is a little blue in a sea of red in Indiana right now, and that’s okay,” Zulich said. “I think this upcoming election will have drastic changes to that. So, part of it is a waiting game. Part of it is for the people who really have an investment in the Democratic Party come out and do work with us.”
Zulich, who is Jewish, also said she also hope to meet Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“It would be really wonderful for me to see another Jewish person in a position as high as that,” Zulich said. “In Indiana, it’s obviously a very white, Christian population, and so sometimes I kind of look at that and I’m not sure how well received I would be at different levels. But it’s really lovely to see someone in such a high position fulfilling our American dream.”
Thomson, on the other hand, looks forward to meeting leaders “coming up through the ranks in the Democratic Party.”
“I think the most exciting thing is to meet the leaders that we don’t know about yet,” Thomson said, while also sharing her hopes to network with other Democratic mayors.
All three Bloomington representatives expressed enthusiasm about Harris — who is Black, Asian and the first woman and woman of color to hold the role of vice president — being the nominee.
“This is amazing,” Bolden said. “I mean, a standard bearer is going to be a Black Asian woman, and that is like, hella amazing.”
What issues do the delegates hope to focus on?
Bolden wants to attend rules committee meetings at the convention to learn about the various systems and mechanisms that can pose barriers in government. She said people often want to make change, but don’t know how to make it happen.
“You just think, ‘I want to make this change. What do I do to get there?’” Bolden said. “It’s hard, and people don’t really talk you through what you need to do to make that change. So, part of it is just getting in there so you can actually tell everybody else, ‘hey, this is how you do it.’”
Zulich told the Indiana Daily Student she hopes to learn about how local governments can “combat” state abortion bans, including Indiana’s near-total abortion ban.
“How I hope we go about this convention as a whole is I really want us to focus on what we can do for the people,” Zulich said.
In addition to officially nominating the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates, Thomson said party officials will set the Democratic National Committee’s policies and visions for the next four years during this convention.
“All of this is critically important to our future,” Thomson said. “Having a Bloomington voice there, of course, is important because we represent one of the largest democratic strongholds in the state, and we really have some decent diversity in our delegation that’s going to Bloomington.”
Thomson, who said she wants to attend workshops on voter and constituent engagement, emphasized the importance of mobilizing voters this election cycle, when the prospect of casting a ballot in a presidential election could draw in more voters.
“If we can mobilize them this year, or our hope is to, of course, keep them engaged for future years, so that we can get them really heavily engaged in our process as we look to elect judges, school board, county commissioners and council, as well as city council and mayor,” Thomson said.
However, Zulich said the party must strike a balance between prioritizing national versus local and state races. This November, Indiana voters can cast ballots in a wide range of races including for seats in the Indiana Senate and House, as well as county-wide races.
“How much time are we spending making sure that local and state house candidates are going to get elected?” Zulich said. “And how much time are we spending on higher ticket or up ballot races?”
Still, she believes Harris’ nomination will energize people to go out and vote.
“The general public is excited to have someone who looks like them, who talks like them, who laughs loudly, who is proud that she laughs loudly,” she said. “That is very, very important to see. I think her being at the top of the ticket is going to get people who might not have before to come out and vote.”
The three representatives will share their experiences and updates from the convention on social media. Bolden said those interested can follow her Instagram account to see her posts. Thomson said she will likely post updates on her campaign social media pages. Zulich will also post updates on her newsletter, which people can sign up for here.
— Mia Hilkowitz is a reporter and editor at the Indiana Daily Student. Contact her at mhilkowi@iu.edu.
