Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam is running for a second term, announcing her 2027 reelection campaign in a video posted to social media on Thursday. The Republican mayor, who unseated longtime incumbent Jim Brainard's chosen path to City Hall by winning the 2023 race, says she wants to accomplish more in a second term.
No other mayoral candidates had entered the race as of Wednesday, according to Current in Carmel, which first reported Finkam's announcement. The 2027 municipal primary is scheduled for May 4, with the general election set for Nov. 2, and every municipal elected position in Carmel will appear on that ballot, the outlet reports.
Finkam said she wants to accomplish more in a second term.
From City Council to the Mayor's Office
Finkam's path to the mayor's office ran through more than a decade of local government service. She represented Carmel's Northeast District on the City Council from 2012 to 2023, according to Current in Carmel, before stepping into the citywide race to succeed Brainard, who served seven terms before announcing in September 2022 that he would not seek reelection. Finkam has also run her own marketing agency and has lived in Carmel since 2007.
She defeated Democratic City Councilor Miles Nelson in the November 2023 general election, becoming the first new mayor Carmel had seen in nearly three decades. Reported vote totals from that race vary slightly: WRTV reported Finkam earned 57% of the vote, while the IndyStar cited unofficial county results putting her at 56.6% to Nelson's 42.2%.
A Fundraising Edge Ahead of 2027
Finkam has also built a substantial financial head start heading into her reelection fight. She raised about $270,000 in campaign contributions in 2024, according to the IndyStar. She also outraised Nelson by roughly $500,000 during the 2023 campaign itself, per the same report.
Finkam has acknowledged that the fundraising climate has shifted since her predecessor's era. “All politics have gotten more expensive,” she said, according to the IndyStar's reporting.
Budget Priorities Heading Into Reelection Year
Finkam's reelection pitch arrives against the backdrop of a city budget she has framed around public safety spending and flat taxes. Carmel's approved 2026 municipal budget totaled $144 million and kept the tax rate flat, according to a city news release distributed through GovDelivery. The proposal included a 10.2% funding increase for the Carmel Fire Department and a 7.9% increase for the Carmel Police Department.
Finkam has said the city expects to lose about $10 million in anticipated revenue tied to changes in state property-tax policy, a projection she raised while discussing the budget. That fiscal pressure sets up one of the central questions of her reelection campaign: whether Carmel can keep expanding public safety funding while absorbing a multimillion-dollar revenue hit. With the May primary still months away and no challengers yet in the field, Finkam heads into 2027 as the only declared candidate for mayor.
