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Do not fill this in! ==Government== {{Main|Government of Indianapolis}} {{See also|List of mayors of Indianapolis}} {{multiple image |align = right |direction = vertical |image1 = City County Building of Indianapolis.jpg |caption1 = [[City-County Building (Indianapolis)|City-County Building]] |image2 = IndianaStateHouse1.jpg |caption2 = [[Indiana Statehouse]] |image3 = Sculptures "Industry," "Science," "Agriculture" and "Literature" at the Birch Bayh Federal Building, Indianapolis, Indiana LCCN2010720547.tif |caption3 = [[Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse]] }} Indianapolis—officially the Consolidated City of Indianapolis and [[Marion County, Indiana|Marion County]]—has a [[consolidated city-county]] form of government, a status it has held since 1970 under [[Indiana Code]]'s [[Unigov]] provision. Many functions of the city and county governments are consolidated, though some remain separate.<ref name="Unigov"/> The city has a [[Mayor–council government#Strong-mayor form|strong mayor–council]] form of government overseeing six administrative departments. Marion County also contains some 60 taxing units, nine separate [[civil township]] governments, and seven special-purpose [[municipally owned corporation|municipal corporations]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Structure of Unigov |encyclopedia=Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis |orig-date=1994 |year=2021 |last1=Blomquist |first1=William |last2=Vanderstel |first2=David |publisher=Indianapolis Public Library |url=https://indyencyclopedia.org/structure-of-unigov/ |access-date=January 21, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Unigov and Public Finance |encyclopedia=Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis |orig-date=1994 |year=2021 |last1=Kirk |first1=Robert |last2=Vanderstel |first2=David |publisher=Indianapolis Public Library |url=https://indyencyclopedia.org/unigov-and-public-finance/ |access-date=January 21, 2022}}</ref> The executive branch is headed by an elected mayor, who serves as the chief executive of both the city and county.<ref name="Mayor">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Office of the Mayor |encyclopedia=Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis |orig-date=1994 |year=2021 |last1=Whitham |first1=John |last2=White |first2=Elizabeth |publisher=Indianapolis Public Library |url=https://indyencyclopedia.org/office-of-the-mayor/ |access-date=January 21, 2022}}</ref> [[Joe Hogsett]] is the 49th and current mayor of Indianapolis. [[Indianapolis City-County Council]] is the legislative body and consists of 25 members, all of whom represent geographic districts. The mayor and council members are elected to unlimited four-year terms.<ref name="Mayor"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=City-County Council |encyclopedia=Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis |orig-date=1994 |year=2021 |last1=Blomquist |first1=William |last2=White |first2=Elizabeth |publisher=Indianapolis Public Library |url=https://indyencyclopedia.org/city-county-council/ |access-date=January 21, 2022}}</ref> Executive and legislative functions are based from the [[City-County Building (Indianapolis)|City-County Building]]. The judiciary consists of a circuit court and superior court with four divisions and 32 judges.<ref name="Unigov"/> Each of the county's nine civil townships elects its own [[Indiana township trustee|township trustee]], three-member board, assessor, and a constable and small claims court judge, all of whom serve four-year terms.<ref name="Townships"/> Since its move from [[Corydon, Indiana|Corydon]] in 1825, Indianapolis has served as the [[List of capitals in the United States|capital]] and seat of Indiana's state government. The [[Indiana Statehouse]] houses the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government, including the office of the [[Governor of Indiana]], the [[Indiana General Assembly]], and the [[Indiana Supreme Court]]. Most state departments and agencies are based in the neighboring [[Indiana Government Center North|Indiana Government Center]] complex.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Indiana Government Center |encyclopedia=Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis |orig-date=1994 |year=2021 |last=Zeigler |first=Connie |publisher=Indianapolis Public Library |url=https://indyencyclopedia.org/indiana-government-center/ |access-date=January 21, 2022}}</ref> The [[Indiana Governor's Residence]] is on [[Meridian Street (Indianapolis)|Meridian Street]] in the [[Butler-Tarkington, Indianapolis|Butler–Tarkington]] neighborhood, about {{convert|5|mi|km}} north of downtown. In the [[Indiana House of Representatives]], Indianapolis is split between 16 districts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://media.graphassets.com/eaz7fJqiQye03ha1htsa |title=Indiana State House Districts – Marion County |author=IndyGIS, D. S. |date=March 2022 |website=indy.gov/activity/election-district-maps |publisher=City of Indianapolis |access-date=November 18, 2022}}</ref> In the [[Indiana Senate]], the city is split between nine districts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://media.graphassets.com/m6Cc1ghQzmwThKsfFNbJ |title=Indiana State Senate Districts – Marion County |author=IndyGIS, D. S. |date=March 2022 |website=indy.gov/activity/election-district-maps |publisher=City of Indianapolis |access-date=November 18, 2022}}</ref> The [[Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse|Birch Bayh Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse]] houses the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana]]. Most federal field offices are located in the [[Minton-Capehart Federal Building]]. From 1906 to 1991, the [[U.S. Army]] operated [[Fort Benjamin Harrison]] in neighboring [[Lawrence, Indiana|Lawrence]]. About 5,000 federal employees work for the [[Defense Finance and Accounting Service]], headquartered at the former base.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=M. B. Emmett J. Bean Finance Center |encyclopedia=Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis |orig-date=1994 |year=2021 |last1=Carnes |first1=William |last2=Hankins |first2=Melanie |publisher=Indianapolis Public Library |url=https://indyencyclopedia.org/m-b-emmett-j-bean-finance-center/ |access-date=January 21, 2022}}</ref> Indianapolis is split between two of Indiana's nine [[congressional district]]s: [[Indiana's 7th congressional district]], represented by [[André Carson]], and [[Indiana's 6th congressional district]], represented by [[Greg Pence]]. ===Politics=== Until fairly recently, Indianapolis was considered one of the most [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] major cities in the U.S.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Unigov and Political Participation |encyclopedia=Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis |orig-date=1994 |year=2021 |last1=Blomquist |first1=William |last2=Vanderstel |first2=David |publisher=Indianapolis Public Library |url=https://indyencyclopedia.org/unigov-and-political-participation/ |access-date=January 21, 2022}}</ref><ref name="politics"/> According to 2014 research published in the ''[[American Political Science Review]]'', the city's policy preferences are less conservative than the national mean when compared with other large U.S. cities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tausanovitch |first1=Chris |last2=Warshaw |first2=Christopher |date=August 2014 |title=Representation in Municipal Government |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/representation-in-municipal-government/924BDD2C2ECD0CC9B42E5A19776BC9C3 |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=103 |issue=3 |pages=605–641 |doi=10.1017/S0003055414000318 |hdl=1721.1/96162 |s2cid=1838661 |access-date=January 15, 2022|hdl-access=free }}</ref> While Indianapolis as a whole leans Democratic, the southern third of the city, consisting of [[Decatur Township, Marion County, Indiana|Decatur]], [[Perry Township, Marion County, Indiana|Perry]], and [[Franklin Township, Marion County, Indiana|Franklin]] townships, trends Republican.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Park |first1=Alice |last2=Smart |first2=Charlie |last3=Taylor |first3=Rumsey |last4= Watkins |first4=Miles |date=February 2, 2021 |title=An Extremely Detailed Map of the 2020 Election |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html |access-date=January 23, 2022|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]s held the mayor's office for 32 years (1967–1999), and controlled the City-County Council from its inception in 1970 to 2003.<ref name="politics"/> In the [[2000 United States presidential election]], Marion County voters narrowly selected [[George W. Bush]] over [[Al Gore]] by a margin of 1.3%, but voted in favor of [[John Kerry]] by a margin of 1.9% in the [[2004 United States presidential election]]. Presidential election results have increasingly favored Democrats, with Marion County voters selecting [[Joe Biden]] over [[Donald Trump]] in the [[2020 United States presidential election]], 63.3–34.3%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/ |title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections |website=uselectionatlas.org}}</ref> Incumbent mayor [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] [[Joe Hogsett]] faced Republican State Senator [[Jim Merritt (politician)|Jim Merritt]] and [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian]] Doug McNaughton in the [[2019 Indianapolis mayoral election]]. Hogsett was elected to a second term, with 72% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.indystar.com/elections/results/local/2019-11-05/18097/ |title=Marion County Election Results for November 5, 2019 |newspaper=The Indianapolis Star |publisher=Gannett Co. |date=November 5, 2019 |access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref> The [[2019 Indianapolis City-County Council election|2019 City-County Council elections]] expanded Democratic control of the council, flipping six seats to hold a 20–5 [[supermajority]] over Republicans.<ref>{{cite news |last=Martin |first=Ryan |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/12/01/republican-jim-merritt-campaign-handed-indianapolis-election-joe-hogsett-democrats/4296200002/ |title='Worst day': Republicans say failed Merritt campaign handed election to Hogsett, Democrats |newspaper=The Indianapolis Star |publisher=Gannett Co. |date=December 1, 2019 |access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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