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Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal on Tuesday announced his intent to run for Indiana Senate, seeking to flip a district that covers parts of Marion, Hamilton and Hancock counties.
Forestal, a Democrat, plans to run in District 31, which is currently represented by Republican Sen. Kyle Walker. Walker announced earlier this month that he will not seek reelection next year.
District 31 is one of the state’s few politically close Senate districts, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle. In 2022, Walker won with 55% of the vote to Democrat Jocelyn Vare’s 44%. In 2020, Walker was elected by caucus to fulfill what remained of Republican Sen. Jim Merritt’s term after Merritt retired.
Forestal, who was elected as sheriff in 2018 and again in 2022, is term-limited in that role. He joined the Marion County Sheriff’s Department in 1977 after studying criminal justice at Ball State University and the former Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
In his law enforcement career, he’s investigated crimes involving narcotics, fraud, theft, burglary, homicide and auto theft. In 2003, prior to the Sheriff’s Office’s merger with then-Indianapolis Police Department, Forestal was named colonel and chief deputy of the Sheriff’s Department.
In 2010, Forestal briefly left the Sheriff’s Office after being appointed by then President Barack Obama to serve as U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Indiana. He returned to the Sheriff’s Office in 2015 and was appointed the rank of lieutenant colonel and executive officer, overseeing the department’s criminal division.
“My neighbors in District 31 deserve to know that their voice in the State Senate will fight every single day to make their lives better–from bringing down the cost of utilities, healthcare, and groceries, to keeping our communities safe. I’m the person to do just that,” Forestal said in a written statement.
Forestal, who lives in District 31, is married with three grown children.
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