Everything to know about South Bend's contested races ahead of Nov. 7 election

SOUTH BEND — With a week of early voting left until Election Day on Nov. 7, the lone Republican officeholder in South Bend hopes to retain his seat while Democrats aim for a sweep.

The St. Joseph County Republican Party, meanwhile, is spending significant money in several South Bend races where it senses kinks in the Democratic Party's armor, campaign finance records show.

At least three offices — city clerk, as well as the 2nd District seat and an at-large seat on the Common Council — will be represented by someone new.

An easy way to figure out who's on your ballot is to visit Vote411.org, a website that offers information about the candidates and their responses to questions about key issues.

Each voter can choose one candidate running for three South Bend offices: mayor, city clerk and the Common Council member in their district. Voters then choose three at-large candidates to round out the Common Council's nine members.

Here are the dynamics to watch for in South Bend's 2023 municipal election.

Controversy upends South Bend mayor's, Common Council District 2 races

The races for South Bend mayor and the 2nd District Common Council seat changed significantly after Republican candidate Roosevelt Stewart was arrested and charged with allegedly punching and choking his 15-year-old daughter this August.

He later denied the allegations to The Tribune, saying his daughter fabricated them in a scheme for him to exit the race following apparent vandalism to his property. Stewart’s trial is set for Jan. 11, two months after the election.

2nd District Common Council: South Bend Dist. 2 hopefuls talk crime, economic development and poverty as voting begins

Stewart, who runs a youth development nonprofit, remains in the race and faces Democrat Ophelia Gooden-Rodgers, a longtime member of UAW Local 5 who now works part-time in South Bend schools. The winner will replace councilor Henry Davis Jr., who left the seat to run unsuccessfully for mayor this spring.

Stewart's arrest rippled to the South Bend mayor's race when Republican Desmont Upchurch confessed to slapping an ex-girlfriend more than 20 years ago to preempt any attacks from Democrats. He also admitted to embezzling money from an employer around the same period.

South Bend Mayor James Mueller agreed to join Upchurch in a Tribune online forum to discuss challenges facing the city over the next four years. But Mueller later declined to formally debate his Republican opponent, citing a busy schedule but also reservations about sharing a platform with an admitted abuser.

South Bend city clerk

South Bend city clerk Q&A: Here are Bianca Tirado's and Tina Wilson's answers to how they'll approach the job

Democrat Bianca Tirado is leaning on the same advantages that pushed her over incumbent city clerk Dawn Jones in this May's Democratic primary election.

A first-generation college student from South Bend who earned a master's degree at the University of Notre Dame, Tirado has strong backing from South Bend Mayor James Mueller and most sitting Common Council members. She held various roles in the city clerk's office for five years before resigning in spring 2022.

"I understand how to run an office that gets the job done," Tirado said.

Right after Tirado stepped down as deputy clerk, Common Council President Sharon McBride hired her as a consultant to the council making at least $6,000 a month. To this day, Tirado sends out meeting notices and serves as a liaison between Jones — her old boss — and council members.

The move led the city clerk to tell The Tribune that her Democratic colleagues were actively undermining her.

Republican Tina Wilson seeks to take advantage of this disarray.

And campaign finance records show the St. Joseph County Republican Party has given Wilson more than $13,000 to do so — the most the party spent on any South Bend candidate. Her spending still pales in comparison, however, to the nearly $52,000 Tirado had spent as of Oct. 20.

Wilson runs her own small business as an esthetician, or skin-care and makeup professional. A single mother, she said at a recent candidate forum that she decided to run for office after crime encroached on her west side neighborhood.

Wilson says one of her top priorities is to fix the conflict-ridden relationship between the clerk and the council. She also strives to better engage members of the public with the workings of the council, a goal Tirado shares.

"Running a business, you have to be quick on your toes. You have to be able to pivot," Wilson said. "What's been working for us as city clerk for the last 40, 50 years is no longer working for us. We need someone that's not afraid to come in and shift things around."

South Bend Common Council District 5

Common Council Q&As: Democrat Bolden-Simpson challenges South Bend District 5 council member Eli Wax

Sherry Bolden-Simpson is the only Democrat who's an underdog as she faces incumbent Republican Eli Wax for a 5th District seat his party has held for decades.

Despite his party affiliation, for the past three years Wax has stayed on good terms with his eight Democratic council counterparts. An attorney at Anderson Agostini & Keller, Wax said he prides himself on standing firm in his convictions while respecting different beliefs.

Though he credits Mueller for supporting a fully staffed South Bend Police Department, Wax believes the force needs to expand its ranks of roughly 250 officers. He advocates for heightened enforcement in neighborhoods to deter speeding drivers.

Bolden-Simpson, a lifelong South Bender who serves as the director of guidance at Rise Up Academy, said she's running because too many people in the city are living in despair and struggling to get by.

"We all deserve to live in a safe and caring community," she said, "but far too many people don't feel safe and they don't feel cared for."

She vowed to find ways to help the residents of Miami Hills Apartments, a complex in her district where tenants have long endured high crime and subpar living conditions.

She said she'd choose to spend more in neighborhoods to improve lighting and combat blight as a way to curb crime. She also supports the placement of School Resource Officers in South Bend schools, she said, because she believes it helps to improve trust between officers and young people.

South Bend Common Council District 3

Common Council Q&As: Sharon McBride and Sonia Perez share how they'd help 3rd District, a diverse array of areas

The St. Joseph County GOP is paying nearly $3,800 to support Republican Sonia Perez in her attempt to oust the Common Council's leader, Democrat Sharon McBride, according to campaign finance records.

A deputy clerk in the St. Joseph County clerk's office, Perez said she's a first-generation American who grew up in California but has become highly involved in South Bend's Latino community since moving here in 2009.

Working as a Spanish medical interpreter at local hospitals, Perez said she witnessed firsthand the trauma endured by families of violent-crime victims. She supports adding more staff to the South Bend Police Department but believes the city must invest in new early-learning opportunities for kids.

"My goal as your next common council member is to make South Bend the safest place to raise a family and the best place to start a business," said Perez, who's a mother of two and runs a small jewelry business.

McBride has been the 3rd District council member since 2018 and the council president since the beginning of 2022.

During a candidate forum, she rejected criticism voiced this election cycle that the council acts simply as a rubber stamp for the mayor's ideas. She pointed to an instance two years ago when she joined council members in rejecting Mueller's proposal for executive raises.

"When we are in disagreement," McBride said of the council and the mayor, "we would like to try to keep it in-house."

A lifelong South Bend resident who coached girls basketball at her alma mater, Riley High School, McBride has been the executive director of the St. Joseph County DuComb Center, a community-based residential correctional facility, for 14 years. She combines this managing experience with an MBA degree, she said.

She emphasizes the 3rd District's 12% population growth in the last census, which makes it one of the fastest-growing areas of the city. She's served on mayoral task forces to address homelessness and mental health issues.

South Bend Common Council At-Large seats

Republicans target an at-large seat on the Common Council after incumbent Lori Hamann, one of the only Democratic councilors who publicly criticizes the mayor's administration, lost her primary bid this May.

Primary 2023 South Bend Mayor Mueller's money, influence wins up and down Democratic primary ballots

But vying for one of three seats, Republican Rhonda Richards will have to earn more votes than not only Democratic incumbents Karen White and Rachel Tomas Morgan but also Democrat Oliver Davis Jr.

Unlike Richards, Davis is by no means a newcomer. He served 12 years on the council alongside past mayors Steve Luecke and Pete Buttigieg. He holds a doctoral degree in social work, serving as a counselor in South Bend schools and teaching at St. Mary's College.

Davis' signature gaiety was on display during an October candidate forum in which he called himself "The Bow-Tie Guy," but he stresses as a council member he would question every resolution and ordinance that comes before him.

Richards, who has received more than $2,800 from county Republicans this election cycle, said she she wants to unite the city's divided districts.

Richards has worked in nonprofit administration and held managerial roles in business, she said, and she now works as an administrative assistant. She's driven by serving people, she said.

"The people that I'm running against have worked for you for a long time, and they've done a lot of good things," Richards said. "But sometimes a new perspective helps. Sometimes a new perspective lets your voice be heard in a different way."

White has been on the council since 2000, and she served for two decades as the vice chancellor of student affairs at Indiana University South Bend.

"I thank you I'm still standing after so many years," White said, "but there's still so much work to be done."

Tomas Morgan won her first term in 2019 and aligns herself closely with Mueller's economic vision for the city. Though she's since stepped down, she worked for years as an administrator and faculty member at Notre Dame's Center for Social Concerns, teaching courses on global poverty.

Heidi Sunje-Bell is also running as a Republican, but St. Joseph County GOP Chair Tyler Gillean said he's hardly heard from her since she announced her run this February. Bell was also the only South Bend candidate who did not respond to the Vote411.org questionnaire.

Email South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jordantsmith09

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Who's running for office in South Bend in 2023 election