How to run for local office in Indiana: the 2027 city and town guide

The short answer

2027 is Indiana's municipal election year. Cities elect a mayor and a common council, and a city court judge where the city has a city court. Towns elect a town council and a clerk-treasurer, and a town judge where the town has a town court. The municipal primary is on Tuesday, May 4, 2027, and the municipal election is on Tuesday, November 2, 2027. Most Democratic and Republican candidates in cities and larger towns get on the ballot by filing a sworn declaration of candidacy and a Statement of Economic Interests (form CAN-12) with the county election board between Wednesday, January 6, 2027 and noon on Friday, February 5, 2027. They do not circulate a petition.

Two other routes exist. In towns of fewer than 3,500 people that did not adopt a primary, party candidates file a town office declaration (form CAN-16) by noon on Monday, August 2, 2027, and the party settles any contest at a town convention. Independent and minor party candidates collect signatures on a petition of nomination (form CAN-44), due to the county voter registration office by noon on Wednesday, June 30, 2027. School board races are not on Indiana's 2027 ballot.

This guide walks through each step in order. The dates come from the Indiana Election Division's 2027 election calendar, which reflects state law as of August 2026. The rules come from the Election Division's candidate guides and state forms, with Indiana Code (IC) citations in the text. Indiana filing deadlines fall at noon, not 5 p.m. This is not legal advice, so confirm anything specific to your office with your county election board. If you have never run for anything before, our post on how to run for local office with no experience covers the groundwork that applies in any state.

What is on Indiana's 2027 ballot, and what is not.

City offices. Cities elect their mayor, their common council and, where the city has created a city court, a city court judge. These offices were last elected in 2023. In Indianapolis, the legislative body is the City-County Council.

Town offices. Towns elect town council members, a town clerk-treasurer and, where the town has created a town court, a town judge. Town council members generally serve four-year terms elected in municipal years such as 2027 and 2031. Some towns have moved some seats to even-numbered years by ordinance (IC 3-10-6-2.5; IC 3-10-7-2.9), so ask your town clerk-treasurer which seats are on the 2027 ballot.

School boards are not on the 2027 ballot. Indiana school board members are elected at the same time as the general election in even-numbered years: November 3, 2026, or in certain cases November 2028. If you came here planning a school board run, ask your county election board when your district's seats are next elected.

Large towns and small towns follow different steps. The Election Division sorts towns into two groups. A "large town" has 3,500 or more people, lies wholly or partly in Marion County, or has adopted an ordinance to nominate party candidates in a primary. Its election steps are essentially the same as a city's. A "small town" has fewer than 3,500 people as of the 2020 Census. Unless its council adopted a primary ordinance by Friday, January 1, 2027, its party candidates are nominated by town convention. Our guide on how to run for town council in Indiana explains both systems.

Key 2027 dates at a glance.

Every date in this table appears on the Election Division's 2027 calendar. The Indiana General Assembly can change election dates, so check again with your county election board in January. Our Indiana 2027 municipal election calendar lists every date in order, including Saturday early voting and the fall voter deadlines.

Step 1

Check that you qualify.

All candidates for an office must meet the same qualifications, whatever their party. Check these before you file, because the declaration is a sworn statement that you meet them.

Be registered to vote in the district by the filing deadline. A candidate for local office must be registered to vote in the election district they want to represent no later than the filing deadline for their route onto the ballot (IC 3-8-1-1). City and town judges follow a different rule. If you have moved recently, update your registration early: a new or changed registration is generally not effective until at least seven days after it is submitted and approved.

Meet the residency rule for your office. The Election Division's candidate guide quotes these rules from state law:

• Mayor of a second or third class city: lived in the city at least one year before the election (IC 3-8-1-26). In Indianapolis, at least one year before taking office (IC 3-8-1-24).
• Common council member of a second or third class city: lived in the city at least one year, and in the council district (if the seat has one) at least six months, before the election (IC 3-8-1-27).
• Town council member: must live in the district, if the seat has one (IC 3-8-1-29).
• City or town judge: must be an attorney in good standing admitted to practice law in Indiana (IC 3-8-1-1.5; IC 3-8-1-28.5).

Your county election board can tell you which class your city is in. Our guides on running for city council in Indiana and running for mayor in Indiana cover each office's rules in more detail.

Check the rules that can disqualify a candidate.

• Felonies. A person is disqualified if a jury or court has publicly announced a felony verdict against them, or if they pleaded guilty or no contest to a felony. This does not apply to a conviction that was pardoned, reversed, vacated, set aside or expunged (IC 3-8-1-5).
• Working for the same government. If you work for the city or town whose office you seek, you may still run. If you win, you automatically resign from that job when you take office (IC 3-5-9-5).
• The "sore loser" law. A person who loses a primary or a town convention cannot run for the same office at the next municipal election, including as a write-in (IC 3-8-1-5.5).

Step 2

Find your route onto the ballot.

Democratic and Republican candidates in cities and large towns

File a declaration of candidacy and a CAN-12 with the county election board from Wednesday, January 6 to noon on Friday, February 5, 2027 (IC 3-8-2-4). No petition is needed. The winner of each party's May 4 primary goes on the November ballot. The same route applies in a small town whose council adopted a primary ordinance by January 1, 2027.

To file in a party's primary, the last two Indiana primary ballots you requested must have been that party's. This means the last two primaries in which you actually voted, not the two most recent primaries. If your record does not match, or if either ballot was nonpartisan, attach a certification from your party's county chair (IC 3-8-2-7). A missing certification does not cause the county to reject your filing, but it invites a challenge.

Party candidates in small towns with no primary

Democratic, Libertarian and Republican candidates file a town office declaration (CAN-16) and a CAN-12 with the county election board, from Wednesday, January 6 to noon on Monday, August 2, 2027. Where two or more candidates of the same party file for the same town office, the party chooses between them at a town convention, which must be held by Monday, August 30, 2027 (IC 3-8-5-10). Your county party chair can tell you when and where your party's convention will meet.

Independent and minor party candidates

Independent candidates, and candidates of minor parties that do not nominate by convention, file a petition of nomination (CAN-44). It needs signatures from registered voters of the district equal to 2 percent of the votes cast for secretary of state at the last general election in that district, with fractions dropped (IC 3-8-6-3). Petitions may be filed for signature checks from January 6 and are due to the county voter registration office by noon on Wednesday, June 30, 2027. The certified petition, a consent form (CAN-45) and the CAN-12 then go to the county election board by noon on Thursday, July 15, 2027.

Ask your county voter registration office for the number that applies to your district in 2027, and do not rely on example numbers published for earlier elections. Signatures must be handwritten. A petition may not contain an electronic, digital, digitized or photocopied signature (IC 3-5-4-1.7). The Libertarian Party nominates its city and large-town candidates at a party convention instead, by noon on Saturday, July 3, 2027. Our guide to running as an independent in Indiana covers the petition step by step.

Write-in candidates

A write-in candidate files a declaration of intent (CAN-51) and a CAN-12 with the county election board between Wednesday, January 6 and noon on Tuesday, July 6, 2027. Indiana has no write-in candidates in a primary, a write-in candidate's name is never printed on the ballot, and only votes for declared write-in candidates are counted.

Step 3

File your declaration of candidacy.

For Democratic and Republican candidates, filing is the main event of the winter. A few habits prevent most problems.

• Use the current form. A filing on an outdated version of a state form must be rejected (IC 3-5-4-8). Get the 2027 declaration and the CAN-12 from your county election board or the Election Division's candidate information page once they are posted.
• Sign in front of a notary. The declaration is sworn before a person authorized to give oaths, such as a notary public (IC 3-8-2-7). Ask your county election board whether a notary is available in its office.
• Attach the CAN-12. The Statement of Economic Interests is an ethics form. The county must reject a declaration that arrives without it. City and town judge candidates file a judicial statement with the Commission on Judicial Qualifications instead and attach a filed copy.
• File in the right county. File with the county election board in the county that has the largest share of your district's population. In most counties this is the circuit court clerk's office. A few counties have a board of elections and registration instead.
• Deliver it by hand, and early. A late filing must be rejected (IC 3-5-4-1.9). A mailed form counts only when it is received, whatever its postmark, so the Election Division recommends hand delivery.

The full walk-through, including how your name will appear on the ballot, is in filing your declaration of candidacy in Indiana.

After you file. You may withdraw from the primary for any reason until noon on Friday, February 12, 2027. A registered voter of your district, or a county chair of a major party, may challenge a candidate's eligibility by filing a sworn statement with the county election board, which decides the question (IC 3-8-1-2). State law sets the challenge deadlines, so ask your county election board for them and keep copies of everything you file.

Step 4

Plan the campaign around the primary.

The declaration deadline falls 88 days before the primary, so a candidate who files on February 5 has about twelve and a half weeks until May 4. Four voter dates shape that stretch:

• Monday, April 5, 2027: voter registration ends. Encourage supporters who have moved to update their registration before then.
• Tuesday, April 6, 2027: early voting begins in the circuit court clerk's office. A county election board may reduce early voting days or hours in a municipal election year, so check your county's schedule.
• Saturdays, April 24 and May 1, 2027: the clerk's office must be open for early voting at least seven hours (four in a county of fewer than 20,000 people), subject to the same county decision.
• Thursday, April 22, 2027, 11:59 p.m.: the clerk must receive vote-by-mail applications. Early voting in the clerk's office ends at noon on Monday, May 3.

If your campaign plans to hand out voter registration forms or absentee ballot applications, Indiana has specific rules for returning completed forms and for labeling mailed applications (IC 3-7-32-7.5; IC 3-11-4-2). Read the Election Division's candidate guide or ask your county election board before you start.

Most local campaigns are won through conversations at the door. A simple approach is to divide your district into areas, knock on each area once before early voting opens, and return to households that were undecided. If volunteers help, Beacon, a door-to-door canvassing app, lets you draw turf (the area each volunteer covers) on a map, assign it, give canvassers walk lists ordered by distance, and record a result at each door, such as contacted, not home or come back later.

Our campaign plan to the May 4, 2027 Indiana municipal primary turns these dates into a week-by-week schedule. After the primary, the fall calendar repeats the pattern: registration closes Monday, October 4, early voting opens Tuesday, October 5, and the election is Tuesday, November 2, 2027.

Step 5

Text the supporters who asked to hear from you.

Text messages help you reach supporters at the moments that matter: when early voting opens, before an event, and in the last days of the campaign. Set texting up in this order with CampaignCNX+.

1. Form your committee and get an EIN. Campaign Verify is the check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that a political sender is a real campaign. It is open to 527 committees (527 is the federal tax status of a political committee) that have an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Candidates with no committee, and sole proprietors, are not eligible. In Indiana, a local candidate's committee files its statement of organization with the county election board.
2. Check that your filing is viewable online. Before you request Campaign Verify, confirm that your committee filing can be found online, and ask your county election board where it is posted. If you cannot find it, contact Campaign Verify Support before you pay. Campaign Verify decides eligibility, and we cannot promise it.
3. Request at the right time. Campaign Verify costs $95 per two-year cycle, and the PIN goes only to the contact details on your filing. A request made before Sunday, November 15, 2026 expires on Sunday, January 31, 2027, before the primary. A request made on or after November 15, 2026 lasts until Wednesday, January 31, 2029, which covers both the May 4 primary and the November 2 election.
4. Open your account and let CampaignCNX+ file your registration. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration for you, either 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or toll-free. For a toll-free number, the carrier review usually takes about three business days. You buy the $95 Campaign Verify token from Campaign Verify, and CampaignCNX+ files it with your registration.
5. Add only people who gave written permission. Text supporters who gave prior express written consent, for example on a sign-up sheet that plainly says they agree to receive campaign texts, with the date recorded. Record the consent date and source in a custom field, tag where you met each person, and put supporters in a group. Never text everyone who signed a petition or everyone on a voter list.
6. Write short messages and schedule them. Keep each text under 160 characters, name the campaign, and end the first message with "Reply STOP to opt out." STOP, HELP and START replies are handled automatically. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, so schedule early voting and primary reminders inside those hours.

100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month, and the free texts can be used once your number is bought and approved. After that, pay-as-you-go texting costs $0.06 per SMS segment, and the Basic plan is $55 a month for 1,000 texts. For the full setup, read texting voters in an Indiana local race. Our post on Campaign Verify for local candidates explains verification in more depth, and our Midwest campaign texting page covers texting across the region.

Guides for each part of the race.

• Indiana 2027 municipal election calendar for candidates
• How to run for city council in Indiana
• How to run for mayor in Indiana
• How to run for town council in Indiana: primary towns and convention towns
• Filing your declaration of candidacy in Indiana
• Running as an independent in Indiana: the petition of nomination
• A campaign plan to the May 4, 2027 Indiana municipal primary
• Texting voters in an Indiana local race: consent and setup