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Carmel woman trying to become first African American elected to city council

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As a Democrat and African American, Ti’Gre McNear is a bit of a political outsider in Carmel, a town that’s never elected an African American to its city council and almost uniformly rejects Democrats. But McNear thinks she can change that. She’s running for Carmel’s Northeast District and is pinning her campaign to a message of inclusivity and representation.

McNear is unopposed in the May 7 primary, which she said will allow her and the rest of the campaign team to gain some automatic “momentum” and spend time seeing what other candidates are doing. McNear and her campaign manager, Sherry Harris, are still working on a strategy. For now, McNear said, the important thing is for her to make her presence known in Carmel, since her only political experience is serving as precinct chair.

“It’s challenging,” McNear, 49, said of running for office, “but it’s exciting. Just because you learn the game of politics, kind of see how it’s going, what people are interested in, what things matter to people.”

McNear, a training specialist at the Indiana University School of Social Work, said the issues she wants to focus on include education and keeping the community safe. She also wants the Carmel City Council to represent what Carmel’s citizens actually look like.

As a matter of fact, with all seven members being white, the city council already does look a lot like the citizens it represents, with the U.S. Census Bureau estimating Carmel was 84 percent white in 2017. In order for representation to keep pace that means one seat should belong to someone who is not white. That’s not a lot of room for McNear to navigate, so as she advocates for minorities to be elected, her campaign will have to build a broader coalition.

“Inclusivity is not just Black,” she said. “It doesn’t mean African American only. It means people who have a lower socio-economic status. It means sexual orientation. It means different cultures, period. … It’s not a Black or white thing, it’s about a human thing.”

Harris doesn’t have experience running a campaign, but she did register voters during former President Barack Obama’s first run for the White House and campaigned for former Indiana Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly. She said she’s ready to knock on doors and tell people “we are all alike and have the same values and that the outcomes for our city benefit everybody.” 

“I just want people who look like us to know you can always fight for your dreams,” said Harris, 57, who is also African American, “and you don’t have to feel like even if I don’t win, that’s the end of the world. I just want people who look like us to know that someone is out there fighting for you.”

Even if she doesn’t win, McNear said making connections in the community, gaining name recognition and introducing people in Carmel to the prospect of an elected African American could pay off for someone else.

“It may not be me,” she said. “I may just be planting the seed. Someone else may come along and water it, then someone else will see the increase. That’s OK.”

 

Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.

Ti’Gre McNear, 49, is trying to become the first African American elected to the Carmel City Council. (Photo/Tyler Fenwick)

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