Mueller announces reelection bid for South Bend mayor, is first candidate to enter race

SOUTH BEND — A week after the midterm elections, South Bend Mayor James Mueller announced Tuesday he will seek reelection in next year's municipal races, making him the first person to publicly declare candidacy for the city's top job.

Flanked by supporters in a crowded room at the Charles Martin Youth Center on Lincoln Way West, Mueller highlighted the continued growth of South Bend's economy and population, the latter of which is steadily increasing for the first time in decades.

"We promised to accelerate our growth," Mueller said. "In one year alone, our population growth is projected to match nearly half of the total population gains of the past 10 years combined — a decade when we grew at the fastest rate since the 1950s, before Studebaker closed."

Mueller won his first bid for public office in 2019, when he was the hand-picked successor of former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, his friend and former classmate at St. Joseph High School. The endorsement followed four years in which Mueller first worked as Buttigieg’s chief of staff and was then promoted to executive director of Community Investment.

His time leading that department has carried over into his tenure as mayor, during which he's sought to attract investment in neighborhoods to accompany spending downtown. He's introduced several neighborhood home initiatives meant to make building in economically depressed areas more financially viable for developers.

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Leading the city during a pandemic and a nationwide reckoning with policing, Mueller faced a particular challenge last year when he called on the newly hired leader of a police misconduct office to resign. A Tribune investigation found the leader, Joshua Reynolds, had been suspended for misbehavior seven times during his tenure as an Indianapolis police officer.

A wrenching challenge arose this year when South Bend police officers shot and killed Dante Kittrell, a Black man who was holding an airsoft gun that police mistook for a real firearm. The fatal use of force was later ruled justified by St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter.

Mueller stood firmly behind South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski's belief that it was an "impossible situation," saying in an August press conference that Kittrell was "determined to end his life that day."

"We've adopted the best practices and led in 21st Century policing, and worked together on a progressive discipline matrix and use-of-force policy," Mueller said Tuesday. "We're building a more robust crisis response system, and we've raised pay for our officers to compete with the highest-paid departments in Indiana. We've brought in 45 new officers, more than a third from underrepresented groups."

Mueller was asked about his health Tuesday following an emergency procedure he had earlier this year to address a severe heart condition. On July 1, about a week after Mueller turned 40, doctors placed two stents in a main artery of his heart to improve blood flow, forcing him to work from home for a week.

Mueller said he's in his best shape in years because of more exercise and a healthier diet. In a follow-up appointment in September, doctors told him his heart is pumping at normal levels. His next checkup isn't until May, he said.

"It's a serious issue, but I haven't skipped a beat, haven't felt slowed down," Mueller said. "It hasn't really impacted anything that we're trying to do or I'm wanting to do."

The Mayor Pete effect

Boosted by Buttigieg’s ascent as a presidential candidate, Mueller comfortably won the 2019 Democratic primary among a field of nine contenders.

He earned 37% of votes and was roughly 1,500 votes ahead of his top two contenders: Jason Critchlow, who last week was elected to serve as Portage Township trustee, and Lynn Coleman, a former South Bend police officer who was raised on the west side and has ties to former Mayor Steve Luecke.

Coleman, who was present at Mueller's announcement Tuesday and shook the mayor's hand, told The Tribune he does not plan to run this time around.

2019 primary:Turnout in key areas drove James Mueller's win in South Bend mayoral primary

Mueller went on to defeat Republican Sean Haas, then a fellow 37-year-old and a government teacher at LaVille High School, in the November mayoral election. Mueller won with 63% of nearly 15,000 votes cast, notably less than the 80% of votes Buttigieg earned as an incumbent in 2015.

Haas’ unsuccessful push for change — “Let’s not have another re-Pete,” one TV ad declared — proved Buttigieg’s and the local Democratic party’s staying power among voters. South Bend’s last 13 mayors have all been Democrats. The last Republican to win was Lloyd Allen in 1967.

"This campaign is not about me, and it's not about any one person, group or neighborhood," Mueller said during his announcement. "It's about a brighter future for South Bend — the resurgence of our world-famed city."

The 2023 municipal elections to be held next November will feature races for mayor, city council and other roles for South Bend, Mishawaka and surrounding city and town governments. Primary elections will be held in May.

Contact South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at 574-235-6480 or JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jordantsmith09

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Buttigieg successor James Mueller seeks reelection as South Bend mayor