Embattled council candidate David Bender withdraws from race — for real this time

Embattled Bloomington City Council candidate David Wolfe Bender has withdrawn from the race — for real this time.

The former candidate, whom police are investigating on suspicion of election fraud, had previously said he would withdraw, only to change his mind and stay in the race. But Bender last week filed paperwork with local election officials to officially withdraw from the race.

Previous coverage: City council candidate tells election board: 'never my intent to commit … election fraud.'

The criminal investigation is continuing: The Monroe County Prosecutor’s office has forwarded information to the Indiana State Police.

“Nothing has changed in terms of how we are handling this at this point,” Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jeffrey Kehr said via email. “That is, this matter is proceeding as it would had he not withdrawn.”

Neither Bender, an Indiana University student, nor his attorney, Allison Chopra, could be reached for this story.

How did Bender get into trouble?

Bender this year filed to become the Democratic nominee for District 6 of the Bloomington City Council.

District 6 is L-shaped and runs from the intersection of College Avenue and Third Street northeast. It reaches as far north as 17th Street and as far east as Jefferson Street. It covers much of the IU campus. The council district boundaries were redrawn last year. Incumbent Stephen Volan could not defend the District 6 seat because the new boundaries cut him out of the district.

The Indiana University student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student, where Bender formerly worked, published a story on Feb. 17, in which residents at the address Bender listed on election paperwork said Bender did not live there.

The story prompted Monroe County Republican Party Vice Chair Bill Ellis, an Ellettsville town council member, to file a complaint with the Monroe County Election Board. The board in March determined it had substantial reason to believe Bender does not live where his candidate filing says he does and is therefore ineligible to run for the District 6 seat.

After a hearing in May, the election board voted to forward the information to the prosecutor’s and attorney general’s offices.

GOP: Bender ‘finally did the right thing’

David Henry, chair of the Monroe County Democrats, said he appreciated Bender’s stepping aside “so that the community can move on.”

Taylor Bryant, chair of the local Republicans, said via email that Bender “finally did the right thing by withdrawing himself off the ballot. The Monroe County Republican party firmly believes in protecting election integrity and we’re glad to see that our local clerk and election board feel the same way.”

Bender’s flip-flop

Shortly after Ellis filed the complaint, Bender said he planned to withdraw from the race, but he said later he made that decision on bad advice from a prior attorney. In April, Bender said he had “taken steps necessary to fix the issues” and planned to stay in the race. In the May hearing, he said he would withdraw from the race if he could not get election filings corrected.

He's in: IU student accused of election fraud changes mind, will stay in council race

At that meeting, Bender also said he had signed a sublease with a friend for a property in District 6, where Bender planned to live over the summer. At the time, he lived in District 4. Based on his intent to live in District 6 over the summer and beyond, Bender said he filed his candidacy paperwork. However, he said he later learned his friend was not authorized to sublet.

“It certainly was never my intent to commit … election fraud,” Bender told the election board.

The paperwork Bender filed last week to withdraw from the race lists as his address an apartment on Fourth Street, in the Restaurant Row Historic District. That address is in District 6.

No candidate for District 6 — yet

Ellis’ complaint and the board’s determination occurred after the deadline by which candidates could withdraw from the primary ballot. Bender’s name therefore appeared on the ballot. He was unopposed and garnered 69 votes, making him the Democratic nominee for the District 6 council seat.

His withdrawal leaves the race without any candidates for the fall election, as no Republican has filed. However, both parties can still put forward a candidate, and at least local Democrats appear likely to do so.

Henry said the local Democrats plan to have a meeting sometime this month where potential replacement candidates can introduce themselves and voters and party officials can ask questions. An exact date had not been set. Henry said the precinct committee chairs of District 6 — Nicole Bolden, Geoff McKim, Emma Shriberg, Nora West, Henry Wolfa — will choose a replacement candidate.

Henry said he knows of at least one potential candidate who has expressed interest: Sydney Zulich, a recent IU graduate, who worked on campaigns for Penny Githens and Isak Asare. Henry said other potential candidates have expressed interest but have not made concrete plans.

Bryant, the Republican chair, said, “We are still in conversation with local Republicans and potential candidates to fill ballot vacancies. We have no announcement to make at this time.”

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington District 6 council candidate David Wolfe Bender withdraws