Kruzan wins Democratic mayoral primary

The votes are in, and Mark Kruzan has won the Bloomington Democratic mayoral primary election with 59.55 percent of the vote.

He beat out John Hamilton, who began his campaign in January by demanding a change from the eight years of Kruzan’s leadership, which began in 2003.

These election results all but guarantee that Kruzan will become the city’s next mayor in November because no Republican candidates have been declared. The Republican party has until the end of June to caucus in a candidate. If he becomes the mayor, Kruzan will serve until 2015.

“I’m very proud for our volunteers, for those who endorsed us and for all of the city employees because this reflects on the job we’ve done in the past eight years,” Kruzan said.

Prior to being elected mayor, he represented Bloomington in the Indiana House of Representatives.

Throughout the campaign, he has touted his accomplishments for Bloomington and addressed issues related to the city’s future, including his plans to prevent Bloomington Hospital from relocating outside the city limits.

He plans to continue focusing on the city economy and to develop downtown further to include more housing and centralized businesses and services.

Hamilton began the campaign saying it was time for a change from Kruzan’s administration. He said the mayor has not adequately addressed pressing issues, including the hospital’s relocation and violent crime.

“I have never been better prepared for a November election in my life,” Kruzan said. “This primary certainly has us engaged in the campaign already.”

Kruzan graduated from IU in 1982 with a degree in journalism and political science and also holds a law degree from the IU School of Law in 1985.

Incumbent Chris Sturbaum won for Bloomington City Council District  1, the only race which has a Republican candidate. He will face KC Baker, an IU graduate student in the general election in November.

Martin Spechler won the 3rd District with just 35 percent of the vote.

Darryl Neher won the 5th District, which includes the precinct Perry 8 where pollworkers experienced trouble reconciling the numbers. This delayed reporting for this district.

Incumbent Steve Volan won District 6.

In the general election, all five at-large council candidates will appear on the ballot: Democrat incumbents Timothy Mayer, Andy Ruff and Susan Sandberg and Republicans Jennifer Mickel and Ed Schwartzman.