Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton won’t seek third 4-year term

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton announced Thursday afternoon that he won’t seek a third four-year term.

The mayor made the announcement in a YouTube video where he listed the city’s accomplishments and reforms. He began as mayor in January 2016.

“It was tempting to run. I just decided not to,” the Bloomington native said in the video, in which he also thanked people for their help during his time as mayor.

The Democrat also talked about the challenges that the city faced: the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate change emergency and a former U.S. president.

“It’s not been easy sailing always. We went through an historic pandemic together that really hit the city hard, but we came together so well. I thank the community for that. We went through the worst presidency in American history and unprecedented assaults on democracy. Again, our community held together and responded to that. We’re responding now in unprecedented ways to the climate emergency as well.”

Monroe County Democratic Party Chairman David G. Henry told News 8 by phone that two people earlier this week announced they will run for mayor on the Democratic ticket:

• Susan Sandberg, president of the Bloomington Common Council and a council member since 2007. She a former social worker.
• Kerry Thomson, executive director of the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, and a former chief executive officer of the Monroe County Habitat For Humanity.

Bloomington has not had a woman mayor since Tomilea Allison from 1983-1995, according to the city government’s website.