If you got elected to the South Bend Common Council, then swore under oath in a deposition that you moved out of the district you were elected to represent, would you still have your seat?
In St. Joseph County, you would. You just have to be a Democrat.
You can look this one up yourself. Indiana Code 36-4-6-2 says a council member who “ceases to be a resident of the district” forfeits office. South Bend’s city code, Section 2-1(c), says the seat “shall thereby become immediately vacant.”
In a November 2023 deposition, Sharon McBride testified under oath that she had been living with her mother, outside her district, since September 2020. The St. Joseph County Democratic Party “conducted an investigation” and declared the matter “resolved.” McBride is still on the council today.
This summer, the same Democratic Party did not file the form(s) the law requires for its own ballot appointments. The Democrats’ own lawyer admitted it on the record. And the party, which had been so relaxed about election law, suddenly cared.
Funny how that works.
Sharon McBride
McBride represents the 3rd District on the South Bend Common Council. Her 2023 declaration of candidacy, signed in front of a notary, lists her home as 415 E. Broadway, inside the district. She certified, “I meet the specific requirements of this office.”
Her campaign finance reports list the same address. Printed under the signature line is a warning: “A person who knowingly files a fraudulent report commits a Level 6 felony.”
Remember that wording. We will see it again.
In a deposition in her own lawsuit against her insurance company, McBride testified under oath that she moved out of her 3rd District house after mold damage. She moved in with her mother, outside the district, on September 1, 2020.
In December 2024, I took that testimony to the Indiana State Police.
On January 6, 2025, the Democratic Party said it had talked to “legal counsel and Indiana Election Law experts.” Which experts, it did not say. Maybe they were shy. The Democratic Party then deemed the matter “resolved.”
Days later, a State Police detective picked up the phone to ask McBride about it. Both numbers on her candidate forms were dead. Apparently, that was not a concern for the Democratic Party.
The special prosecutor, Christopher Gaal, reported in August 2025 that “the evidence is uncontested that McBride was not physically present at the residence.” He passed on criminal charges, because he couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she “knowingly acted to permanently abandon” the house. A civil removal case, he wrote, was “more appropriate.”
So a 3rd District resident filed one. Special Judge Graham Polando wrote that McBride “may indeed not meet the qualifications of her office.” Then he threw the case out on a technicality, because the law only lets a prosecutor, or someone claiming a stake in the office, contest it.
The special prosecutor said it belonged in civil court. The judge said the citizen who filed the challenge was not allowed to.
It’s a tidy arrangement, and the St. Joseph County Democrats received a “get out of jail free” card.
McBride is still on the council. The Democratic Party has never publicly revisited what it concluded in January 2025.
Heidi Beidinger
In May 2026, St. Joseph County Democrats had a 4th District vacancy to fill on the South Bend Common Council. On May 20, seven Democratic precinct chairs selected Heidi Beidinger.
WVPE reported that Beidinger, a longtime former Granger resident, bought her South Bend home in September 2025. State law says a person can serve on the council “only if” she has “resided in the city for at least one (1) year.” South Bend’s city code says it in its own words. A council member “shall have been a resident of the City for at least one (1) year immediately preceding election.”
Angela Smith, one of the candidates Beidinger beat that night, told WVPE what she understood the timeline to be. “I knew she had just moved into the city from Granger last fall.”
The caucus met in May. You don’t need a calculator for this one.
One of the seven voters, Emily Voorde, raised the eligibility question before the vote. She told WVPE she went to the St. Joseph County Democratic Party to find out whether Beidinger’s eligibility had been determined.
“They said they were leaving that up to the caucus members,” Voorde told WVPE.
The caucus parliamentarian also told WVPE the candidacies were “presumptively valid” until “the caucus decides otherwise.”
In other words, the party had a lawyer, a statute governing eligibility, a precinct committeeman (PC) questioning the candidate’s eligibility before the vote, and the Democratic Party decided it was best to let the PCs decide.
Beidinger was sworn in that night. And at this time, no one has taken her eligibility to serve on the Common Council to court, or to the state police.
The November Ballot
Now we fast-forward to the summer of 2026, when election law suddenly became very important to the St. Joseph County Democratic Party.
Party Chair Don Westerhausen appointed several individuals to fill holes on the November ballot. Each appointee was required to file a CAN-31, the form where a candidate agrees to be on the ballot. Indiana Code 3-13-1-14 says an appointment “is not effective unless” that consent is filed.
None of his appointees filed one.
You don’t have to take the Republicans’ word for it. At the August 21 election board hearing, the Democrats’ own lawyer, James Groves, said it himself. “Yes, we failed to file the CAN-31s.” Groves told the board it “probably should” sustain the objection, “as the statute uses the word shall.”
A reasonable party might have said oops and moved on. But the Democratic Party, under Westerhausen, has been anything but reasonable.
Instead, on September 2, the party put out a release warning that “failure to follow Indiana Code regarding candidate placement is a Level 6 felony.”
There’s that phrase again. Last seen on McBride’s campaign reports.
The same release quoted Vic Cummings, the party’s nominee for county assessor: “My personal belief is that voters should decide, not the courts.”
Five days later, on September 7, Westerhausen took the matter to “the courts.”
Here is the part every county chairman in Indiana should read twice. The Democrats did not have to get it right the first time. When the board sustained the challenge on August 21, Manier ruled that it created a fresh vacancy, and Indiana Code 3-13-1-7(b)(7) gave Westerhausen 30 days to fill it again.
He refiled on August 28. By then nobody could challenge it. Indiana Code 3-13-1-16.5(b) gives a challenger until noon 74 days before the election to question a certificate of candidate selection, and Manier found that deadline ran on August 21, the same day the board removed the first four names. After that, she wrote, the only avenue left to anyone who thinks a candidate is disqualified is to file a lawsuit.
The Democrats do not file the proper paperwork.
The Democrats are removed from the ballot.
The Democrats refile.
The Democrats exploited a loophole in election law.
That is not my summary. It is the sequence that the ruling documents.
The Record
When one of its own council members testified she’d moved in with her mother outside her district, the party determined it was a non-issue.
When a precinct chair asked whether its council pick was even eligible to serve on the Common Council, the Democratic Party said that was up to the caucus.
When the Democratic Party’s appointments did not turn in the required forms, and its own lawyer admitted it, the party threatened felony charges, hired a law firm out of Indianapolis, and had a judgment in hand within ten days.
Sharon McBride testified under oath that she moved out of her district six years ago. A resident did ask a court to remove her. The judge never ruled the case, because the law did not let that resident bring the case. The Democratic Party has not brought one. Neither has a prosecutor.
So the party knows how to make election law work. It knows which statute to cite, which courthouse to walk into, and how fast a judge will move.
In St. Joseph County election law is a suggestion right up until a Democrat needs it.
Logan Foster
Logan Foster is the founder and editor of Redress South Bend, an independent news outlet covering local government, courts, and public institutions in South Bend and St. Joseph County, Indiana. He reports from primary documents: public records requests, court filings, state audit reports, and campaign finance disclosures. His reporting has examined city and school district payments made without competitive bidding, school board spending, and the records of candidates in county races. Redress South Bend obtained the South Bend Police Department's ShotSpotter coverage map after the department initially denied public access. The outlet is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Online News Association. Reach him at info@redresssouthbend.com
