Will Ballard Run for a 3rd Term?
Whenever I am asked whether Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard will run for a third term, my answer is pretty simple. It depends on the day you catch him; some days he is gung ho, other days he’s ready to call it a day.
Ballard ignited a lot of speculation about his future this past week when he confirmed to a local reporter that he’d been having some conversations with Cathedral High School to possibly takeover as their President.
That news (which I speculate was leaked by a Democrat with ties to the school) got Indy’s political class in a tizzy.
But putting the feeding frenzy aside, it’s easy to see why Ballard hasn’t made a decision yet. As I’ve written in other forums, while he enjoys being Mayor as he gets older, he’ll be 60 this year, there’s always the question about the energy for another political campaign, especially when you have a city to run also.
In addition, Cathedral isn’t the only place that’s had the Mayor on its radar screen. And whatever decision Ballard makes won’t be a solo one, his wife Winnie will have a lot of say in his decision to run.
If he does run, it will be tough race, but I think he can win. The Democrats’ own polling, I hear, has him beating both Joe Hogsett and Ed DeLaney. If he doesn’t run, there are a lot of names being thrown out as to who might run in his stead, the one that peaks my curiosity the most is IMPD Chief Rick Hite.
Regardless, I can assure whatever decision Ballard reaches it will be both thoughtful and balanced and have the best interests of his family and city at heart. And while I would like to see him hold the office for a third time, if he decides to call it a day the fact that he beat the Marion County Democrats twice is a nice consolation prize.
