By a 10-vote margin, Marion County Democrats chose acting Prosecutor Ryan Mears to fill the vacancy left by Terry Curry who stepped down last month due to health reasons.
More than 300 Democratic precinct committeemen showed up Saturday morning at the Julia Carson Center to choose between Mears and Tim Moriarty, special counsel to Mayor Joe Hogsett.
Mears won 157-147. He ran on his platform of experience and dominated the headlines over the past week for announcing a policy that the office would no longer prosecute simple marijuana cases when less than an ounce was involved. So far nearly 150 cases have been dropped since the policy was announced.
Moriarty had the backing of Mayor Joe Hogsett, Congressman Andre Carson, Council President Vop Osili, and County Clerk Myla Elridge, while Mears had the support of Curry, Sheriff Kerry Forestal, State Senator J.D. Ford and famous black attorney Nathaniel Lee.
You can hear Mears in the Leon-Tailored Audio above. His comments run less than five minutes.
