INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis City-County Councilor Vop Osili is running for mayor.

Osili, a Democrat who represents the city’s 12th District, announced Thursday that he would seek his party’s nomination for mayor in 2027.

He is in his fourth term on the City-County Council. Osili, 63, was first elected in 2011 and served as president from 2018 through the end of 2025. He announced in December that he was stepping down as president but would remain on the council.

During his time on the council, Osili has worked to expand affordable housing, led the effort to open hiring opportunities for people returning from incarceration, and launched the city’s first microloan program to help people in lower-income neighborhoods start small businesses.

He has long been a close ally of Mayor Joe Hogsett, and Hogsett has not yet said whether he will seek a fourth term in office. Only one person, the late Bill Hudnut, has been elected to that office four times.

“This campaign isn’t about ideology or political labels,” Osili said in a statement posted to his website, voteforvop.com. “It’s about whether city government is delivering the basics people rely on every day – safe and stable housing, public safety rooted in trust and humanity, and real economic opportunity.”

In the weeks ahead, Osili will host neighborhood town halls and community conversations around Indianapolis to speak with residents, events he says will “ensure the priorities of the campaign, and his administration, are shaped by the people it serves.”

Osili added, “Together, we can build an Indianapolis that works for every neighborhood and every family. This is our city, one where everyone will know that they belong.”

So far, the only other person to announce a run for mayor is Annette Johnson, a Democrat who currently serves as Pike Township Trustee.

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