Jonathan Weinzapfel

Jonathan Weinzapfel
Chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College Southwest
In office May 12, 2014 – November 30, 2019
Preceded by	Daniel Schenk
Succeeded by	Kelly Cozart (interim)
33rd Mayor of Evansville
In office January 1, 2004 – December 31, 2011
Preceded by	Russell G. Lloyd Jr.
Succeeded by	Lloyd Winnecke
Member of the Indiana House of Representatives from the 76th district
In office January 2, 1999 – January 1, 2004
Preceded by	Larry Lutz
Succeeded by	Trent Van Haaften
Personal details
Born	Jonathan David Weinzapfel (1965-11-16) November 16, 1965 Evansville, Indiana, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Patricia Klineman
Education	Indiana University, Bloomington (BS) Georgetown University (MA) Indiana University, Indianapolis (JD)
Website	Campaign website

Jonathan David Weinzapfel (born November 16, 1965) is an American politician, attorney, businessman, and Democratic nominee for Indiana Attorney General in the 2020 election. Weinzapfel formerly served as the 33rd mayor of Evansville, Indiana. He was elected in November 2003 and again in 2007. He did not run for a third term in office, and was succeeded by Lloyd Winnecke. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He most previously served as the Chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College's Southwest campus, a position he held from 2014 to 2019.

Early life and education

Born to Ralph and Sylvia Weinzapfel in Evansville, Weinzapfel's father was a member of the Posey County Council and his mother was the executive director of the local YWCA branch. He attended Reitz Memorial High School and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Indiana University. He earned his Master's degree from Georgetown University and Juris Doctor from the Robert H. McKinney School of Law at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis.

Career

In 1996, Weinzapfel ran for the United States House of Representatives in the 8th District of Indiana. He was defeated in a close race by one-term incumbent John Hostettler after narrowly defeating (by a margin of 1%) State Representative Rick McConnell of Princeton, Indiana. In the primary, Weinzapfel carried the more liberal parts of Monroe and Vanderburgh Counties, while McConnell won more conservative parts of the 8th District.

Weinzapfel went on to serve five years in the Indiana House of Representatives for District 76. In this capacity he served as the Chairman of the Courts and Criminal Code Committee, the Environmental Affairs Committee and the Environmental Quality Service Council.

In 2000, he served as attorney for Bowers Harrison LLP. Weinzapfel also served on the Financial Institutions, the Judiciary, and the Public Health committees. His accomplishments include helping to found the Southwestern Indiana Regional Development Commission. He served as the first president of the group. The commission is representative of Gibson, Posey, Vanderburgh, and Warrick counties in order to promote economic development and improve the quality of life in southern Indiana.

Mayor of Evansville

His first term as Evansville mayor began on January 1, 2004. In office, Weinzapfel focused on creating jobs and revitalizing downtown, primarily through the successful construction of the Ford Center, a multi-use indoor arena in with a maximum seating capacity of 11,000. He also started the Evansville Education Roundtable to provide a community-wide dialogue on improving education and has built a collaborative style of decision-making through his "Traveling City Hall" program.

In the 2008 presidential campaign, he endorsed Barack Obama.

During his last year as mayor, he oversaw an implementation of an overhaul of the city's accounting information system. An audit of his last year as mayor revealed significant problems with that implementation and the auditors issued a Disclaimer of Opinion.

Due to his popularity in a politically competitive part of the state, there was some speculation of Weinzapfel running for governor in 2008 against incumbent Mitch Daniels and in 2012 when it was an open seat. He did not, however, enter either race. Weinzapfel joined Faegre Baker Daniels LLP as attorney in 2012 and resigned in 2014. There was also speculation that he may run for governor again in 2016; however, he did not.

In 2014, Weinzapfel was selected as chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College Southwest as part of the college's organizational restructure. He served in that position through November 2019, when he left to join the Evansville law firm, Jones Wallace LLC.

2020 Indiana Attorney General election

Main article: 2020 Indiana Attorney General election

On December 10, 2019, Weinzapfel announced his intention to run for Indiana Attorney General in the 2020 election against incumbent Republican Curtis Hill. On June 13, 2020, during the virtual state convention, delegates formally nominated Weinzapfel to be the Democratic nominee for attorney general, defeating his only primary opponent, state senator Karen Tallian. The final vote tally was 1,057 votes to Weinzapfel and 1,009 votes to Tallian. Weinzapfel went on to lose the general election to former Congressman Todd Rokita (who had unseated Hill at the Republican convention) by a wide margin, though he received a greater percentage of the vote than either Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden or Democratic gubernatorial candidate Woody Myers.

Personal life

Weinzapfel resides in Evansville, Indiana. He is married to Patricia Weinzapfel and they have three children. Patricia is a former reporter for WFIE Channel 14 Evansville and currently serves as the Executive Director of Family Engagement/Community Schools for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation.

Electoral history

1996

Indiana's 8th congressional district election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Hostettler (incumbent)	109,860	50.0
	Democratic	Jonathan Weinzapfel	106,201	48.3
	Libertarian	Paul Hager	3,803	1.7
Total votes			219,864	100.0
	Republican hold

2003

2003 Evansville mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jonathan Weinzapfel	19,089	63.6
	Republican	Russell G. Lloyd Jr. (incumbent)	10,063	33.5
	Independent	Jack Groshans Jr.	874	2.9
Total votes			30,026	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

2007

2007 Evansville mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jonathan Weinzapfel (incumbent)	13,097	85.2
	Republican	David J. Nixon	2,268	14.8
Total votes			15,365	100.0
	Democratic hold

2020

Democratic convention results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jonathan Weinzapfel	1,057	51.2
	Democratic	Karen Tallian	1,009	48.8
Total votes			2,066	100.0

Indiana Attorney General election, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Todd Rokita	1,721,998	58.3
	Democratic	Jonathan Weinzapfel	1,229,626	41.7
Total votes			2,951,624	100.0