2003 Indianapolis mayoral election

2003 Indianapolis mayoral election

←  1999 November 4, 2003 2007  →
Turnout	26.81% 10.17pp [1]
Nominee Bart Peterson Greg Jordan Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 92,763 55,354 Percentage 62.62% 37.37%
Mayor before election Bart Peterson Democratic Elected mayor Bart Peterson Democratic

The Indianapolis mayoral election of 2003 took place on November 4, 2003. Voters elected the Mayor of Indianapolis, members of the Indianapolis City-County Council, as well as several other local officials. Incumbent Democrat Bart Peterson was reelected to a second term.

Primaries

Primaries were held on May 6. ^[2]

Democratic primary

Indianapolis mayoral election, 2003 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bart Peterson (incumbent)	25,406	93.96
	Democratic	Karen Beck	1,633	6.04
Majority			23,773	87.92
Turnout			27,039

Republican primary

Indianapolis mayoral election, 2003 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Greg Jordan	24,150	100
Turnout			24,150

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Bart Peterson (D)	Greg Jordan (R)	Other / Undecided
SurveyUSA [3]	October 31 – November 2, 2003	413 (CV)	± 4.8%	62%	34%	4%

Election results

Peterson won reelection by a large margin.

2003 was a good year for Democrats in Indiana's mayoral elections, with the party winning control of the mayoralties of all of the state's top seven most populous cities for the first time since 1959. ^[4] The Democratic Party also won control of the mayoralties in twenty of the state's thirty cities with populations above 25,000. ^[4] Additionally, in 2003, Democrats won more than 56% of partisan mayoral races in Indiana. ^[5]

During the general election, Marion County, saw voter turnout of 27% in its various elections. ^[6]

Indianapolis mayoral election, 2003 ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bart Peterson (incumbent)	92,763	62.62
	Republican	Greg Jordan	55,354	37.37
	Independent	John Leroy Plemons	13	0.01
Majority			37,409	25.25
Turnout			148,130
	Democratic hold

Preceded by 1999

Indianapolis mayoral election 2003

Succeeded by 2007

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   CV – certain voters
   V – unclear

References

1. "indy.gov". www.indy.gov. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
2. "INDIANA May 6, 2003 Municipal Primary Election". Secretary of State of Indiana. December 31, 2003. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
3. SurveyUSA
4. Howey, Brian A. (November 5, 2003). "Democrats control top 7 Hoosier cities" (PDF). The Howey Political Report. 10 (14). Retrieved December 11, 2019.
5. Marschall, Melissa; Lappie, John (May 2016). "Mayoral Elections in Indiana 2003–2015" (PDF). Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
6. "General Election Turnout and Registration" (PDF). www.in.gov. Indiana Secretary of State.
7. "INDIANA November 4, 2003 Municipal General Election/". Secretary of State of Indiana. December 31, 2003. Retrieved May 23, 2019.