BLOOMINGTON - JUNE 2, 2023 - The Democrat winner of the Bloomington City Council District 6 race David Wolfe Bender has withdrawn as the Democratic Party District 6 nominee in the November 7 Bloomington Municipal election.
Photo: David Wolfe Bender withdraws from Bloomington City Council race
On May 18, 2023, the Monroe County Election board held a hearing on whether Bender resided in the district to which he was running.
The Monroe County Election board voted to refer the matter over to Monroe County prosecutor Erika Oliphant, to consider possible felony charges, and to the Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita on the question of his eligibility as a candidate.
His withdrawal leaves the question of his eligibility a moot point.
Bender was unopposed in the primary election and no Republicans filed for the seat.
To place a new person on the Democrat ballot, the Democrat party will now convene a caucus of five precinct committee chairs of Bloomington City Council District 6.
The date of the caucus has not been announced, but the deadline for filling for both Democrats and Republican candidates is July 3, 2023.
On Thursday afternoon Bender filed a CAN 46 form resigning his candidacy.
The issue arose after the Indiana Daily Student on February 17, questioned whether Bender actually lived in District 6. According to the article published in the Indiana Daily Student the residents of District 6 says he does not live there.
The key point is now moot, when Bender signed a sublease on December 9, 2022, which has his occupancy starting on May 1, 2023, would meet the residency requirement which had to be satisfied by February 3, 2023.
Bender's candidate filing and voter registration listed a 304 East 16th Street address, which is a rental property near Memorial Stadium. This address is in District 6, where he is running.
However, when Indiana Daily Student approached a resident of the house on 16th Street, the resident was adamant that Bender did not live there. The resident told the Indiana Daily Student that he and his roomates have all signed leases for the next year; he does not know who Bender is and there is no chance Bender is residing there.
Bender mailing address is 600 block of South Henerson Street in Bloomington which is in Bloomington City Council District 4. The candidate running for that district is Dave Rollo.
According to voter registration Bender has registered to vote at the Henderson Street address from September 2021 - January 2023. Bender changed his address, no less than two weeks before he filed on January 31.
A similar situation is found in the Mitchell City Mayoral race after Independent Candidate Eddie Mclain has listed two addresses one being outside the city limits of Mitchell, and the other being outside in the city limits which is his mother's address.
The Lawrence County Election board hearing is June 29, 2023, at 1:30 pm to determine Mclain's residency. The Lawrence County Election board can also refer the matter to the Lawrence County Prosecutor's office and Indiana Attorney General office if they feel like the matter should be investigated for criminal charges.
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