Charles Harrison re-emerges in Indy mayor race

The Rev. Charles Harrison has amassed enough signatures to mount a third-party candidacy for mayor of Indianapolis — but he says he didn't have anything to do with it.

A petition drive that kicked into high gear last month collected enough signatures to put Harrison on the ballot as an independent, the Marion County Board of Voters Registration confirmed Monday. That leaves the Ten Point Coalition leader with just over a week to decide whether he wants to accept the unorthodox nomination.

"Well, certainly I'm flattered and humbled by it," Harrison told the Star in a Monday interview. "And the number of signatures that I hear were collected certainly gives me pause for thoughts.

"I know that God will lead me to make the best decision for my family, my congregation and for the city."

Harrison's on-again, off-again candidacy has been a subject of speculation in local political circles for months.

Back in November, he formed an exploratory committee to run, then subsequently closed it, saying he wouldn't run as long as his "good friend" Olgen Williams was in the race. But Williams, the deputy mayor of neighborhoods, bowed out ahead of the GOP primary.

Now, Harrison says he's once again considering running, though he says he doesn't know who was behind the organized effort to qualify him for the office.

The petition drive gathered thousands of signatures, and on Monday crossed the required threshold of 3,175 qualified voters, said Scott Carr, chief deputy of the Board of Voters Registration.

A website urging his candidacy, RunRevRun.com, was established June 8, 2015, according to domain registry records. But whoever is behind it has kept their identity close to the vest. The website is registered to a digital John Doe — Domains by Proxy, LLC, an Arizona-based company that registers domain names on its clients' behalf to keep their identities secret.

"No one with money approached me about it," Harrison said. "I started hearing the rumors about it myself."

If Harrison's campaign — which is currently non-existent, in the eyes of the Election Board — had nothing to do with it, the next chance to see who paid for the effort and petition drive would be the pre-election campaign finance reports due Oct. 16.

Harrison has until July 15 to accept the petition nomination.

Harrison, the pastor of Barnes United Methodist Church, has never run for office, but has carved out a public role for himself through his work with the Ten Point Coalition in crime-plagued neighborhoods. The coalition is a faith-based anti-crime organization that has worked closely with city leaders.

He would represent a wild card in the match-up between Democrat Joe Hogsett and Republican Chuck Brewer, who had been running a two-man race even before the May primaries had formally whittled the field down to two.

He would also be a longshot to win — but if Hogsett vs. Brewer becomes close, a Harrison candidacy could tip the balance. The conventional wisdom is that he'd be more likely to siphon off votes from Democratic constituencies, potentially damaging Hogsett in a three-way race.

Thomas Cook, a spokesman for Hogsett's campaign, declined to comment unless Harrison officially enters the race.

Jennifer Hallowell, Brewer's spokeswoman, did not respond to requests for comment early Monday evening.

While he doesn't know who was behind the petition, Harrison says the outcome is reflected in his own experience in recent months.

"What I do know is since the fall of last year, I have had so many people in the city trying to encourage me to run for mayor, both Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Independents," Harrison said. "And it has not stopped — even after I bowed out, those conversations never stopped."

Call Star reporter Brian Eason at (317) 444-6129. Follow him on Twitter: @brianeason.