Sean Burton
A local bartender and podcaster is trying to enter the Columbus mayoral race.
Sean Burton, a bartender at Ziggie’s and owner of Second String Media LLC, is seeking signatures for his petition to run as an independent in the upcoming November mayoral election.
“I belong to a large demographic of just blue-collar working people that are just trying to make the best life for themselves in Columbus and be happy,” he said. “And I feel like a lot of those people feel disconnected from local government. I feel like they don’t have an avenue to go to when they have things to talk about, and I’d say that’s been verified by the conversations that I’ve had with people throughout this petition process.”
Taylor Seegraves, elections administrator for the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office, said that Burton will not be an official candidate until he has 259 certified signatures and files his consent paperwork. The signatures are due by noon Friday and the consent paperwork is due by noon on July 17.
Burton is at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fair throughout the week to collect signatures. As of Monday afternoon, he had 153 signatures, Seegraves said.
“I’m telling people, all I’m trying to do right now is get them to give me the next four months to convince them that I’m right for Columbus,” Burton said. “I stress to people that a signature on the petition is not a commitment to vote for me. I just want Columbus to have a choice, and I want Columbus to be able to go to the ballot with a couple of different options that they’ve heard from and be able to make an educated choice.”
The only official candidate for mayor is Columbus Director of Administration and Community Development Mary Ferdon, who beat Republican former Indiana state representative Milo Smith to become the GOP nominee with about 63% of the vote during the May primary. Incumbent Mayor Jim Lienhoop, also a Republican, is not seeking another term and has endorsed Ferdon.
Burton, 42, said that he’s been interested in getting involved with public service for about six years but talked himself out of running for Columbus City Council during the last couple elections.
“When I saw an uncontested mayor’s race and I thought to myself, ‘Let’s shoot our shot,’” he said. “Like, that’s really what it was. It’s pretty simple. It wasn’t necessarily any issue with what’s happening in our community. I mean, there are some differences that I have between the people in office now and the people that are running now, but it’s not necessarily an attack on anyone or anything like that, I just felt it was the right time to shoot my shot.”
If elected, Burton’s priorities would include transparency, connecting local officials with the people they represent and addressing substance abuse.
He said he chose to run as an independent because party politics can be “polarizing,” and he has a mix of conservative and liberal views.
“At the end of the day, the independent ballot was the one that I was able to sleep at night with,” he said.
There is currently no Democratic candidate for mayor, but the party could still select a candidate for the general election before noon on Monday.
When asked if the party will do so, Bartholomew County Democratic Party Chair Ross Thomas replied, “If we have a candidate, they’ll be filed by July 3.”
Democrat Sean Webster previously filed to run for mayor in late January but withdrew his nomination after learning his residence, located in Wayne Township, is 195 feet outside the city limits.
Former Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers, a Republican, was the first individual to announce his candidacy for mayor and the first to withdraw, attributing the decision to a desire to move away from public service and into the private sector, as well as to spend more time with his family. He later endorsed Ferdon and donated $1,000 to her campaign.
