Rev. Charles Harrison Claims Ignorance Of Who's Buying His Independent Candidacy



When Rev. Charles Harrison's name popped up late last year as a potential candidate for Indianapolis mayor, it was clear for all to see those behind the push to put him on the ballot as a third party candidate for mayor were Republicans who know their novice candidate imported from Chicago just a few short years ago, businessman Chuck Brewer, had no chance of defeating Democrat Joe Hogsett in a head-to-head match-up. Harrison was game for the third party bid until his old friend, Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams, expressed interest in challenging Brewer for the Republican nomination. Rev. Harrison eventually bowed out of the race after forming an exploratory committee. As it turned out, Williams' candidacy was very short-lived following a quick trip to the woodshed with his boss, Mayor Ballard.

What was very peculiar about Rev. Harrison's earlier aborted campaign for mayor were the discussions of him running as the Libertarian candidate despite him having no political leanings at all in the direction of what Libertarians supposedly represent. There was also a lot of talk of a very wealthy, mystery California businessman willing to invest $2 million into Rev. Harrison's campaign. I'll leave it to others to speculate why this mystery businessman would be willing to invest that much money in a little-known minister's campaign half-way across the country from his home state. For whatever reason, the Libertarians have fielded very few candidates for office in this year's municipal election, including the mayor's race. To the outrage of conservative Republicans and some Libertarians, the party at the behest of the Marion Co. Republican Party fielded a candidate in the Third District City-County Council race as part of Kyle Walker and his corrupt leadership team's effort to ensure that the most principled incumbent Republican council member, Christine Scales, loses her race for re-election.

As news came the Libertarians were not fielding a candidate for mayor, someone hired a California-based firm with ties to the Republican Party, Star Petition Group, to circulate petitions to collect enough signatures to place Rev. Harrison's name on this year's municipal ballot as an independent candidate. A paid mouthpiece for the local Republican Party, Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, was fast to announce enough signatures had been collected to place Harrison's name on the ballot should he file a statement of candidacy with the Marion Co. Board of Elections by July 15. Incredibly, Rev. Harrison tells the Indianapolis Star he has no idea who is behind the effort to put his name on the ballot, which includes a website, RunRevRun.com. Whoever registered the domain address for the website chose an Arizona company, Domains by Proxy, which registers names on behalf of clients who wish to keep their identities secret.

It's difficult to imagine someone would waste money to pay an out-of-state firm to gather signatures to place Rev. Harrison's name on the ballot unless the would-be candidate knew of the effort and approved of their actions. It's also quite apparent the local Republican Party is behind the effort to get Rev. Harrison's name on the ballot. This is typical of their cynical view towards black voters and how they believe they can be easily manipulated to switch their allegiance to the Democratic Party simply by fielding a person of color to run against a white Democratic candidate. Clearly, local Republicans believe Rev. Harrison will siphon enough black votes from Hogsett to allow Brewer to win with a minority, plurality vote. It never works for them, but it's a tool they repeatedly reach for in their trick bag in election after election. Their greater problem is with independent and some Republican voters, who have no intention of voting for this unknown, untested man who spends half of his time in Chicago with his son. Brewer is also still an active reserve officer in the U.S. Marines, who could get called up for active duty service on short notice and be out-of-pocket for an extended period of time just like has occurred with South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who was called up for a six-month tour of duty this past year in Afghanistan. That's unacceptable for a city the size of Indianapolis, which requires a full-time mayor who is fully-engaged in our community. Chuck Brewer is not that candidate.