BLOOMINGTON – Andrew Guenther has filed candidacy paperwork and provided a statement in support of his candidacy to fill the office of Monroe County Councilperson at Large.
Eligible Precinct Committeepersons will gather at the Nat U. Hill Room of the Monroe County Courthouse on Sunday, January 5, 2025, at 1 p.m. to vote in caucus to appoint pro tempore a candidate for this vacancy.
MCDP will only share statements by those candidates who have filed their paperwork with the Party Secretary.
Dear Fellow Monroe County Democrats,
In this time marked by grief, I would like to thank each of you for your service to our Party and your wise judgment as we navigate this caucus process. My name is Andrew Guenther, and I would like to tell you all about myself, why I am running for the vacant County Council At-Large seat, and why I believe I am your best choice to serve Monroe County on the County Council.
I have spent over a third of my life, and my entire adult life, living in Monroe County. I came here in 2013 from Valparaiso, Indiana to study at Indiana University, where I received my bachelor’s in public policy and my master’s in environmental sustainability. I am currently a student nearing the end of his studies at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law and O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, where I am a JD-MPA candidate studying environmental policy, natural resource management, energy, and climate policy, after which I intend to remain local.
I have been a dedicated public servant in Monroe County since 2015, having served on the Bloomington Board of Housing Quality Appeals (Vice Chair), the Bloomington Environmental Commission (Chair), and the Monroe County Environmental Commission (Chair), which I was appointed to unanimously twice by the County Council. I also serve as a County Commissioners appointee to the Bloomington Commission on Sustainability (Vice Chair). I have worked on important issues in our community, such as solar energy, pollution mitigation, public transit, representative governance, fiscal responsibility, urban habitat connectivity, and urban canopy expansion, in addition to working to further protections and funding for Lake Monroe.
I also have a long history of involvement in Democratic politics, including serving on the boards of the High School Democrats of America and College Democrats of Indiana. I have worked for Democratic campaigns, including as communications staff for John Gregg’s campaign for Governor and Beth White’s campaign for Secretary of State. I have volunteered in Monroe County and Washington, D.C. for organizations that protect women’s rights and work to prevent domestic violence, as well as organizations fighting for the rights of my fellow LGBT+ Americans. I have also previously worked in policy advocacy for the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce on economic development in the County, including I-69 and aspects of the Monroe County budget process.
New blood, experienced in working with officials in the county and the City of Bloomington, is needed to help broker compromise and progress. I would uphold the mantle left behind by Cheryl Munson through my service to our environment and to those among us most in need. My service on the County Council would be marked by some core beliefs, including the need for a sustainable built environment, a safe and secure community, intergovernmental cooperation, financial discipline and restraint, and the importance of community input.
I have always sought to work transparently and in the best interest of our community. I will always put the well-being of Monroe County above all else in my service on Council, and I want to promise you all that I will do everything in my power to make Monroe County even better than it was before I joined Council. I want to assure you that, if chosen to serve on the County Council, I will work collaboratively with all members of our community, whether they live in the county or the city, whether they support me at the caucus or not, and whether they share my beliefs or not.
Thank you all for your time, your service, and your consideration. I hope to earn your votes, and I am excited to work together in building a future we all want to see.
Democratically yours,
Andrew J. Guenther Jr.
812-837-7420
For more information, visit https://www.monroedems.org/vacancy-caucus-mccal.
