Michelle Chambers: Mayor and I were scheduled to discuss “succession plan“ (VIDEO)
Fort Wayne At-Large Councilwoman says Henry was impressed with her 2023 citywide vote totals
Earlier today, Fort Wayne City Councilwoman Michelle Chambers officially launched her candidacy to replace the late Mayor Tom Henry at a news conference in the lobby of the Journal Gazette building downtown. (Video below)
“The last time I had the opportunity to interact with our mayor was just two Saturdays ago,” Chambers shared. They were at an event to honor Miss Indiana Cydney Bridges, a Fort Wayne native. “He hugged me and said, ‘Well how is our next mayor doing?’” she recounted.
“I was like, ‘Wow, Mayor, that’s an excellent compliment.‘“
Chambers said she and Henry were scheduled to meet on Thursday, March 28th, which ended up being the day he died. “We were going to talk a succession plan.”
“I don’t stand before you indicating that the mayor was going to endorse me,” she continued. “I’m just sharing with you that he always said to me, ‘Michelle, your numbers. Michelle, we will have a conversation about a succession plan.’”
Chambers said the mayor’s comment about her “numbers” was in reference to the number of votes she received in the 2023 election. She netted 21,952 in her at-large re-election bid, tops among all at-large candidates and just 1,995 behind Henry’s total. (Republican city clerk Lana Keesling was the leading vote getter in the city with 25,199.)
“I don’t stand here before you indicating that the mayor was going to endorse me. I’m just sharing with you that he always said to me, ‘Michelle, your numbers. Michelle, we will have a conversation about a succession plan.’”
In prepared remarks, Chambers made her case to the 98 Allen County Democratic Party precinct chairs whose votes at an April 20th caucus will determine Henry’s replacement.
“This is a moment about not just being caucused in this moment, but it’s about what’s going to happen in the future,” alluding to the 2027 election in which the new mayor will likely compete.
She also pledged to keep the current department heads in place were she to win the caucus. “I would have no desire to change the existing staff.”
You can watch her full remarks in the video below.