Democratic Portage Township Trustee Jason Critchlow has announced he’ll run for South Bend mayor in next year’s May primary election, for a term that starts in 2028.
Critchlow isn’t all gloom and doom about how the city is doing these days. He notes South Bend has turned around its population decline and is seeing lots of new investment, especially downtown.
“The problem is who’s not being included in part of that progress?" Critchlow says. "And I see lots of examples of it every day of people who tell me, well Jason I don’t come downtown. Or I don’t use that building. I don’t go to those restaurants. My neighborhood is still in bad shape and maybe getting worse. The quality of housing in our city is getting worse. Our South Bend schools are feeling like they’re getting worse."
He oversaw pharmaceutical clinical trials before becoming trustee in 2023. He also ran for mayor in the 2019 Democratic primary, an election that current Mayor James Mueller won. The South Bend Tribune editorial board endorsed Critchlow over Mueller but Mueller was endorsed by his former boss, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. He won re-election in 2023.
Critchlow says he hasn’t talked with Mueller about his plans to run and he has no idea whether Mueller will seek a third term. I asked him how he would compare or contrast himself with Mueller.
“For me it’s not really about contrasting myself to any administration. It’s just what I think that the next 20 years needs.
I’m not really sure what he’s going to do or not do," he said. "There’s mayors all over the state that have already announced their re-elections so I'm operating on the fact that he's not running until he says that he's running.
I'll be honest, every day I'm out knocking on doors trying to get Democrats elected in these upcoming mid-term elections and I hear it on the doors all the time. People are like, Jason, I hope you'll consider running for higher office, I hope you'll consider running for mayor. And I think people have an appetite for the style of leadership and the action that I’ve been able to bring, and they’re ready to see that on a broader scale.”
Critchlow says he isn’t worried about causing a divide in the party.
“I have not run into any roadblocks, that’s for sure. I have felt very well supported to continue taking each step forward in this process. We’re lacking new ideas and we need the next generation of leaders, the next generation of people to be involved, and that’s not an issue of age, it’s an issue of perspective, and so I think that what I’m talking about is going to be welcomed by many people within the Democratic Party.”
We’ll be working today to ask Mueller whether he plans to seek re-election next year.
