Hogsett, Shreve debate covers little new ground
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Mayor Joe Hogsett and Republican opponent Jefferson Shreve appeared in an hourlong debate last night. Screenshot: WISH-TV
Joe Hogsett and Jefferson Shreve appeared struck by nerves last night during a debate under the studio lights of WISH-TV.
Why it matters: It's the second-to-last chance for the Indianapolis mayoral candidates to make their cases to a TV audience before the Nov. 7 election.
- Both struggled through filler words and long pauses while answering predictable questions about public safety, the 2020 racial justice protests, grocery store access and the vibrancy of downtown.
State of play: Hogsett, a two-term Democrat running for re-election, and Shreve, a Republican businessman, argued more about the state of Indianapolis than about specific policies and solutions.
- Hogsett cited statistics showing downtown Indianapolis is "extraordinarily safe," while Shreve asserted "our feelings of a lack of safety" and said "perception is reality."
- Shreve called the Hogsett administration's policies to crack down on bad landlords "toothless initiatives," while Hogsett noted the Indiana General Assembly banned cities from regulating landlord-tenant relations after Indianapolis attempted new tenant protections in 2020.
- Shreve linked the city's failure to meet Hogsett's police hiring targets to a supposed stand-down order Hogsett is rumored to have given during the 2020 riots, alleging officers "will tell you to a T they were ordered to stand aside and let it rip." Hogsett for years has denied giving such an order.
The intrigue: The moderators asked Hogsett where he was as rioting escalated on the last weekend in May 2020, giving oxygen to another longtime rumor in conservative circles that the mayor was incapacitated or unavailable.
- "I was working from my home. I was in constant contact with my representatives with IMPD," Hogsett said, adding he slept for two or three hours during that weekend and went back to work.
- "I can tell you that a Mayor Shreve would have been on the scene, whether in an emergency command center, or at least on the 25th floor of the City-County Building, because that's how you lead," Shreve said.
Meanwhile, Shreve restated his intent to end the "novel experiment" of a popular park that has temporarily closed part of Monument Circle, saying it has "proved difficult to close one-quarter of the circle" and suggesting it's unsafe for motorists and cyclists.
- Hogsett plans to bring it back next year while also working toward creating other pedestrian-first spaces, including on Georgia Street.
The bottom line: Neither Hogsett nor Shreve broke new ground in the hourlong debate, nor seemed comfortable in the format.
What's next: They'll meet again on Fox59 and CBS4 at 7pm Thursday.