The 2015 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 3, 2015. The election was won by the incumbent mayor, Pete Buttigieg, who was reelected with more than 80 percent of the votes, defeating Republican Kelly Jones. The election coincided with races for the Common Council and for South Bend City Clerk.
Before facing each other in the general election, Buttigieg and Jones each won their parties' nominations in primaries, with Buttigieg fending-off a challenge from Common Council member Henry Davis, Jr. and Jones winning an uncontested primary.
Buttigieg handily won the general election, facing only a weak Republican competitor in a heavily Democratic city.
After being reelected to a second term as mayor, Buttigieg would later seek national office by first running the 2017 Democratic National Committee chairmanship election, and by later running for the presidency of the United States in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. In 2021, President Joe Biden appointed Buttigieg to be the United States Secretary of Transportation.
Nominations
Primaries were held May 5. During the primaries, St. Joseph County, where South Bend is located, saw voter turnout of 12% in its various primary elections. This was a decrease of 4% from the primaries four years prior. Absentee voting ballots in the South Bend primaries numbered at 2,133.
Democratic primary
Incumbent mayor Pete Buttigieg declared his intention to seek reelection on November 18, 2014. Buttigieg filed to run for reelection on January 19, 2015.
Buttigieg campaigned for renomination upon the progress made during his first term as mayor. This included declining unemployment, new development in the city's downtown, ongoing infrastructure improvements (including the city's "Smart Streets" initiative), and improvements in public safety. He also noted recent economic development announcements by the city that promised to generate $180 million in new investment and up to 1,400 new jobs. Buttigieg also noted that the prior year alone had seen the announcement of 1,349 new jobs. Buttigieg also touted the strength of the city's finances. Another of his administrations accomplishments which Buttigieg noted was the ahead-of-schedule Vacant & Abandoned Properties Initiative, which sought to either renovate or demolish 1,000 abandoned homes in as many days. He also touted his efforts to advance the city's use of technology, pointing to the reworking of the city's 3-1-1 system. Another success he claimed was the simplification of the city's tax abatement process. Buttigieg also touted himself as a champion for parks improvements, pointing to a $5.6 million parks bond approved by the Common Council in January. Buttigieg's plans for his second term included creating universal pre-kindergarten and improving public transportation. He also pledged to explore ways of cutting the cost of the federally mandated sewer project the city was to undertake, which was at the time estimated to cost $600 million. Buttigieg responded to criticisms over his transparency by saying, "I would stack our record on transparency up against anybody in this area or anywhere else."