Jason Larrison, a former city employee, beat out Karla Lopez-Owens in a vote by Democratic Party officials to fill the vacant District 12 seat on the Indianapolis City-County Council.
The seat was open after Blake Johnson, a Democrat, was selected to serve in the Indiana House of Representatives. Indiana law requires precinct committee people from the same party as the outgoing member to fill a vacancy on the council.
Larrison, who also used to be director of the city’s Business and Neighborhood Services under Mayor Joe Hogsett, is a precinct committee person and was allowed to cast a vote.
Lopez-Owens would have been the only Latina on the 25-member council.
The July 7 vote ended a short, tumultuous special selection process that led to old blog posts from Larrison resurfacing. Many called them racist, sexist and homophobic. Still, Larrison had the support of Hogsett.
Jason Larrison
