Marion County is a
countyA county is a land area of local government within a country. A county may have cities and towns within its area. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count .Counts are called earls in post-Celtic Britain, Ireland and France—the term is from Old...
located in the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of
IndianaIndiana is a U.S. state, the 19
th admitted to the Union. It is located in the Great Lakes region, and with approximately 6.3 million residents, is ranked 16
th in population and 17
th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38
th in land area, and is the...
. As of
July 2008July 2008 was the seventh month of the leap year. It began on a Tuesday and ended after 31 days on a Thursday.- International holidays :* July 1 - Canada Day * July 1 - July Morning * July 1 - Republic Day...
its population was estimated at 880,380 making it the largest county in the state and 55th
most populated county in the country, greater than the population of
six states. The
county seatA county seat is a term for an administrative center for a county or civil parish, primarily used in the United States. In the Northeast United States, the statutory term often is shire town, but colloquially county seat is the term in use there...
is Indianapolis, the
state capital and
largest city. Marion County is sometimes considered coterminous with Indianapolis proper.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 403
square mileThe square mile is an imperial and US unit of measure for an area equal to the area of a square of one statute mile.
s (1,044 km²), of which 396 square miles (1,026 km²) is land and 7 square miles (18 km²) (1.68%) is water.
Adjacent counties
- Hamilton County
Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. The county seat is Noblesville. The center of population of Indiana is located in Hamilton County, in the town of Sheridan....
(north)
- Hancock County
Hancock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2000, the population was 55,391. Its estimated 2005 population was 63,138. The county seat is Greenfield.-Geography:According to the U.S...
(east)
- Shelby County
Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2000, the population was 43,445. Its estimated 2005 population was 43,766. The county seat is Shelbyville.-History:...
(southeast)
- Johnson County
Johnson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2000, the population was 115,209. The county seat is Franklin.-Geography:According to the U.S...
(south)
- Morgan County
Morgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2000, the population was 66,689. Its estimated 2005 population was 69,778. The county seat is Martinsville. Morgan is one of seven counties contiguous to Marion County, and is located between Indianapolis, in Marion County, and...
(southwest)
- Hendricks County
Hendricks County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. The county seat is Danville. As of 2000, the population was 104,093. At the time of the 2005 annual update, it was 127,483. It is the 4th largest county located within the Indianapolis metropolitan area...
(west)
- Boone County
Boone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2000, the population was 46,107. Its estimated 2005 population was 52,061. The county seat is Lebanon.- History :...
(northwest)
Major Highways
Interstate
Highways
 Interstate 65Interstate 65 is a major Interstate Highway in the United States. The southern terminus is located at an intersection with Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama, and its northern terminus is at a traffic light with U.S. Route 12 and U.S...
 Interstate 69Interstate 69 is an Interstate Highway in the United States. It exists in two parts: a completed highway from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, and a mostly-proposed extension southwest to the Mexican border in Texas...
* Interstate 70Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway Project started in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the...
 Interstate 74Interstate 74 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an intersection with Interstate 80 in Davenport, Iowa; the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an intersection with Interstate 75 in Cincinnati, Ohio...
 Interstate 465Interstate 465 is the beltway circling Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is roughly rectangular in shape and has a perimeter of approximately 53 miles . It lies almost completely within the boundaries of Marion County, except for two short sections on the north end in Boone and Hamilton...
|
US Highways
 U.S. Route 31U.S. Route 31 is a long north-south highway connecting northern Michigan to southern Alabama, with its northern terminus at Interstate 75 near Mackinaw City, Michigan, and southern terminus at the combined U.S. Route 90 & U.S. Route 98 at Spanish Fort, Alabama...
 U.S. Route 36U.S. Route 36 is an east-west United States highway that runs for 1,414 miles from Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado to Uhrichsville. The highway's western terminus is at Deer Ridge Junction, an intersection in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, where it meets U.S. Route 34. Its eastern...
 U.S. Route 40U.S. Route 40 is an east-west United States highway. As with most routes whose numbers end in a zero, U.S. 40 once traversed the entire United States. It is one of the original 1920s U.S. Highways, and its first termini were San Francisco, California, and Atlantic City, New Jersey...
 U.S. Route 52U.S. Route 52 is a United States highway that runs across the northern, eastern and southeastern regions of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S...
 U.S. Route 136U.S. Highway 136 is a spur of U.S. Highway 36. It runs from Edison, Nebraska, at U.S. Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 34 to the Interstate 74/Interstate 465 interchange in Speedway, Indiana. This is a distance of 804 miles .-Route description:...
 U.S. Route 421U.S. Route 421 is a spur of U.S. 21. It runs for 941 miles from Michigan City, Indiana at U.S. 20 to Fort Fisher. The highway goes through the cities of Indianapolis, Indiana; Frankfort, Kentucky; Lexington, Kentucky; Harlan, Kentucky; Bristol, Tennessee; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Greensboro,...
|
Indiana Highways
 Indiana State Road 37State Road 37 in the U.S. State of Indiana at one time ran from the northeast of the state to the south end. In the pre-Interstate Highway era, Indiana 37 was the most direct route between Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, although Interstate 69 has supplanted it and some other highways as through routes...
 Indiana State Road 67State Road 67 in the U.S. State of Indiana cuts a diagonal route from southwest to northeast across the state from the north side of Vincennes to Indianapolis to the Ohio state line, where it becomes State Route 29 east of Bryant.-Route description:...
 Indiana State Road 135State Road 135 in the U.S. State of Indiana is a road that connects Indianapolis with the Ohio River; for the most part it is a two-lane road.-Route description:The southern terminus is the Matthew E. Welsh Bridge on the east side of Mauckport...
|
*Currently ends in Indianapolis at current Interstate 465 / Indiana 37 exit.
Expansion connecting
IndianapolisIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, excluding the included towns, at 798,382 in 2008...
and
EvansvilleEvansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 121,582, and a metropolitan population of 342,815...
is expected to be complete around 2018.
History
Marion County was created in April 1, 1822 and was formed from Delaware New Purchase. It is named for
Francis MarionFrancis Marion was a military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. Acting with Continental Army and South Carolina militia commissions, he was a persistent adversary of the British in their occupation of South Carolina in 1780 and 1781, even after the Continental Army was driven...
, a
Brigadier GeneralBrigadier General is the lowest ranking General Officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of Colonel and Major General.The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a brigadier general, or simply a brigadier, would command a brigade in the field...
from
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
in the
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , also sometimes known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies in North America, and concluded in a global war between several European great powers...
.
The state capitol was moved to Marion County in 1824 beginning a period of rapid growth in population.
Demographics
As of the
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
of 2000, there were 860,454 people, 352,164 households, and 213,411 families residing in the county. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
was 2,172 people per square mile (838/km²). There were 387,183 housing units at an average density of 977 per square mile (377/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 70.49%
WhiteRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 24.17%
BlackRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or
African AmericanRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.25%
Native AmericanRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 1.43%
AsianRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.04%
Pacific IslanderRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 1.98% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.64% from two or more races. 3.87% of the population were
HispanicRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or
LatinoRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race. 17.0% were of
GermanThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
, 12.7%
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 9.0%
IrishThe Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians The Irish...
and 7.3%
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
ancestry according to Census 2000.
2005 Census estimates for Marion County was 65.3% non-Hispanic white, 25.8% African-American, 5.9% Latino, and 1.5% Asian
In 2000 there were 352,164 households out of which 30.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.20% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
living together, 14.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.40% were non-families. 31.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the county the population was spread out with 25.80% under the age of 18, 10.00% from 18 to 24, 32.90% from 25 to 44, 20.20% from 45 to 64, and 11.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.00 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $40,421, and the median income for a family was $49,387. Males had a median income of $36,503 versus $27,846 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year...
for the county was $21,789. About 8.70% of families and 11.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.30% of those under age 18 and 8.00% of those age 65 or over.
Cities and towns
Marion County has a
consolidated city-countyIn American local government, a consolidated city–county is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such, it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation; and a county, which is an administrative division of a state...
government, known as
UnigovUnigov is the name adopted by the city of Indianapolis to describe its consolidated city-county government, adopted in 1970 by act of the Indiana state legislature.- Background :...
, in which only four municipalities retain full government autonomy (including a mayor and city council) as "excluded cities". The remaining municipalities within the county are "included towns" and exercise very limited authority, mainly in zoning and appointing their own police departments. They retain the ability to levy taxes for these purposes. Since many of these included towns were and remain fairly wealthy and influential within the county, they can still have considerable unofficial clout. Likewise, some neighborhoods that had already been formally incorporated into Indianapolis (such as Broad Ripple) possess similar influence.
- Beech Grove
Beech Grove is a city in Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 14,880 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Beech Grove is located at ....
(Excluded City)
- Clermont
Clermont is a town in Pike and Wayne townships, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,477 at the 2000 census. It has existed as an "included town" since 1970, when it was incorporated into Indianapolis as part of Unigov. It is legally part of Indianapolis, while retaining a...
- Crows Nest
Crows Nest is an affluent town in Washington Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States approximately northwest of downtown Indianapolis. The town is adjacent to the neighboring community of North Crows Nest and it is just south off Kessler Boulevard on the private drive Sunset Lane. The...
- Homecroft
Homecroft is a town in Perry Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 751 at the 2000 census. It has existed as an "included town" since 1970, when it was incorporated into Indianapolis as part of Unigov...
- Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, excluding the included towns, at 798,382 in 2008...
- Lawrence
Lawrence is a city in Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is one of four "excluded cities" in Marion County. The city is home to Fort Benjamin Harrison within Fort Harrison State Park...
(Excluded City)
- Meridian Hills
Meridian Hills is an affluent community in Washington Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States, about six and a half miles north of downtown Indianapolis and slightly southwest of the neighboring community of Williams Creek.-History:...
- North Crows Nest
North Crows Nest is an affluent town in Washington Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The town is approximately northwest of downtown Indianapolis. The town is adjacent to the neighboring community of Crows Nest. The population was 42 at the 2000 census. It has existed as an...
- Rocky Ripple
Rocky Ripple is a town in Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 712 at the 2000 census. It has existed as an "included town" since 1970, when it was incorporated into Indianapolis as part of Unigov...
- Southport
Southport is a city in Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,852 at the 2000 census. It was founded in the 19th century as a place of loading, unloading, embarkation, and debarkation by teamsters driving goods north to Indianapolis, making it a true "port", even though it is...
(Excluded City)
- Speedway
Speedway is a town in Wayne Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 12,881 at the 2000 census. Speedway is the home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, from which the town derives its name, and is a complete enclave of Indianapolis....
(Excluded City)
- Spring Hill
Spring Hill is a town in Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 97 at the 2000 census. It has existed as an "included town" since 1970, when it was incorporated into Indianapolis as part of Unigov...
- Warren Park
Warren Park is a town in Warren Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,656 at the 2000 census. It has existed as an "included town" since 1970, when it was incorporated into Indianapolis as part of Unigov...
- West Newton
West Newton is a neighborhood located on the southwest side of Marion County, Indiana. It is a small Quaker-settled town inside Decatur Township. It has been incorporated into Indianapolis.-External links:***...
- Williams Creek
Williams Creek is an affluent town in Washington Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is located about north of downtown Indianapolis and is slightly northeast of the neighboring Town of Meridian Hills. Williams Creek was originally planned as an exclusive community for the wealthy...
- Wynnedale
Wynnedale is a town in Washington Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 712 at the 2000 census. It has existed as an "included town" since 1970, when it was incorporated into Indianapolis as part of Unigov...
|
|
Townships
Center Center Township is one of nine townships in Marion County, Indiana, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 167,055, making it the most populated township in Marion County...
Decatur
FranklinFranklin Township is one of the nine townships of Marion County, Indiana, United States. Located in the southeast corner of the county, it has been subsumed into the city of Indianapolis along with most of the rest of the county...
LawrenceLawrence Township is one of nine townships in Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 111,961. In 2008, the population was 117,431.-External links:*...
Perry
PikePike Township is one of the nine townships of Marion County, Indiana, United States, located in the northwestern portion of the county. The entire township is administratively part of Indianapolis, though a portion of the included town of Clermont lies in the southwest corner. As of 2000, Pike...
WarrenWarren Township is one of nine townships in Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 93,941.-External links:*...
WashingtonWashington Township is one of the nine townships of Marion County, Indiana, United States, located in the northern part of the county. The township is entirely within the city of Indianapolis...
WayneWayne Township is one of nine townships in Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 133,461. In 2008, the township population was 134,542.-External links:*...
|
Politics
Presidential election results
| Year |
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
|
Democratic The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
|
Others |
2008The 56th quadrennial United States presidential election was held on November 4, 2008. Outgoing Republican President George W. Bush's policies and actions and the American public's desire for change were key issues throughout the campaign, and during the general election campaign, both major party...
|
35.4% 134,313 |
63.8% 241,987 |
0.8% 3,062 |
| 2004 The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
|
48.6% 156,072 |
50.6% 162,249 |
0.8% 2,376 |
2000The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President. Bill Clinton, the incumbent President, was vacating the position...
|
49.2% 140,169 |
47.9% 134,553 |
2.9% 6,569 |
1996The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Cabinet Secretary Jack...
|
47.2% 133,329 |
44.1% 124,448 |
8.7% 24,437 |
1992The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush; Democrat Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....
|
39.8% 141,369 |
37.8% 122,234 |
22.5% 60,187 |
1988The United States presidential election of 1988 featured an open primary for both major parties. Ronald Reagan, the incumbent President, was vacating the position after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the...
|
58.6% 184,519 |
40.8% 128,627 |
0.6% 1,949 |
1984The United States presidential election of 1984 was a contest between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. Reagan was helped by a strong economic recovery from the deep recession of 1981–1982...
|
58.3% 184,880 |
41.0% 130,185 |
0.7% 2,083 |
1980The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...
|
53.7% 168,680 |
40.1% 126,103 |
6.2% 19,486 |
1976The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...
|
54.6% 177,767 |
44.6% 145,274 |
0.8% 2,535 |
1972The United States presidential election of 1972 was the 47th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 7, 1972. The Democratic Party's nomination was eventually won by Senator George McGovern, who ran an anti-war campaign against incumbent Republican President Richard...
|
66.5% 206,065 |
33.0% 102,166 |
0.5% 1,535 |
1968The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was a wrenching national experience, conducted against a backdrop that included the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and subsequent race riots across the...
|
52.3% 162,503 |
37.2% 115,715 |
10.5% 32,704 |
1964The United States presidential election of 1964 was the sixth-most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States behind the elections of 1936, 1984, 1972, 1864, and 1980 . President Lyndon B...
|
48.3% 143,015 |
51.4% 152,418 |
0.3% 948 |
1960The United States presidential election of 1960 marked the end of Dwight D. Eisenhower's two terms as President. Eisenhower's Vice President, Richard Nixon, who had transformed his office into a national political base, was the Republican candidate....
|
57.7% 166,202 |
42.1% 121,336 |
0.2% 668 |
Marion County was long once a Republican county in
PresidentialThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
elections, giving majorities to Republicans from 1968 to 2000. Although recently the county is trending Democratic, with
John KerryJohn Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, and is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee....
winning a majority in 2004, the first Democrat since
Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969 after his service as the Vice President of the United States from 1961 to 1963...
in 1964. The trend continued in
2008The 2008 United States presidential election in Indiana took place on November 4, 2008 throughout all 50 states and D.C., which was part of the 2008 United States presidential election...
with
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
showing very strongly in Marion County, winning almost 64% of the vote.
Marion is part of Indiana's
7thThe 7th Congressional district of the state of Indiana and encompasses most of Marion County/Indianapolis, Indiana. However, prior to the 2002 redistricting the district referred to a completely different area of Indiana, covering Fountain, Parke, Tippecanoe, Montgomery, Clinton, Boone, Hendricks,...
congressional district, which is located in the heart of the county and held by Democrat
André CarsonAndré D. Carson is the United States Representative for Indiana's 7th congressional district and the grandson of his predecessor, former U.S. Representative Julia Carson . Carson, who is African American, describes himself as "an Orthodox, universal, secular Muslim." He is the second Muslim to...
. Marion is also part of Indiana's
4thThe Fourth Congressional District of Indiana was created in its current form after the 2000 United States census. According to the Cook PVI, it is one of the most Republican districts in the country.-Geography:...
and
5thIndiana's 5th congressional district takes in the eastern and northern suburbs of Indianapolis, including Hamilton and Hancock Counties, the city of Marion and part of Kokomo. The district is one of the most reliably Republican districts in America, having voted 71%-28% for George W...
congressional districts along the edges of the county, which are held by Republicans
Steve BuyerStephen Earle Buyer has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993 for . He was born in Rensselaer, Indiana, was educated at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina and the Valparaiso University School of Law, served in the United States Army, and...
and
Dan BurtonDanny "Dan" Lee Burton is an American politician. He is a member of the United States House of Representatives for , which includes most of the northern suburbs of Indianapolis as well as the southern fringe of the Fort Wayne area. A Republican, his first term in the United States Congress began...
respectively. In the
Indiana House of RepresentativesThe Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing 100 distinct districts...
Marion is part of the 25th and 86th through 100th districts. In total 16 districts; 10 seats represented by Democrats and six by Republicans. In the
State SenateThe Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing 50 distinct districts...
Marion is part of the 30th through 35th districts, which are held by four Republicans and two Democrats.
The
Indianapolis City-County CouncilThe Indianapolis City-County Council is the city legislature of Indianapolis, Indiana and Marion County, known as Unigov. It was formally established in 1970 upon the merger of the city government with the county government. Both the Council and Mayor's office are located within the Indianapolis...
is the
city legislatureA city council is the legislative body that governs a city, municipality or local government area.-Australia:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council may vary slightly...
of
Indianapolis, IndianaIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, excluding the included towns, at 798,382 in 2008...
and Marion County, known as
UnigovUnigov is the name adopted by the city of Indianapolis to describe its consolidated city-county government, adopted in 1970 by act of the Indiana state legislature.- Background :...
. It was formally established in 1970 upon the merger of the city government with the county government. The council passes ordinances for the city and county, and also makes appointments to certain boards and commissions.
County elected officials
- Mayor (County Executive): Gregory A. Ballard
Gregory A. Ballard is the Republican mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. On Tuesday, November 6, 2007, he defeated two-term incumbent Democratic Mayor Bart Peterson by 51% to 47%. Many political pundits described it as the biggest upset in Indiana political history.-Background:Ballard...
(R)
- Auditor: Billie Breaux (D)
- Clerk: Elizabeth White (D)
- Coroner: Kenneth Ackles (D)
- Assessor: Greg Bowes (D)
- Prosecutor: Carl Brizzi (R)
- Recorder: Julie Voorhies (D)
- Sheriff: Frank J. Anderson
Frank J. Anderson is currently Sheriff of Marion County, Indiana, and is the first black individual to serve in that post. He is the second black Sheriff in Indiana after Oatess E. Archey.Frank Anderson grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana...
(D)
- Surveyor: Mary Catherine Barton (D)
- Treasurer: Michael Rodman (D)
County commissioners: Bowes, Breaux, Rodman