Munoz
COLUMBUS, Ind. — A Democratic candidate for Columbus City Council District 6 who may be declared the winner of the 2023 municipal election following a nearly year-long legal fight said he continues to reside in the district even though he has been staying closer to where he works in Indianapolis.
Bryan Muñoz, the Democratic nominee for District 6, said he has been renting a place in Fishers to temporarily be closer to work while the legal challenge over his opponent’s candidacy was playing out but has been maintaining residence in District 6 with what he described as a “close family friend.”
“As I was waiting for the challenge to play out, I started staying closer to work in Indianapolis, but I still have residence in District 6,” Muñoz told The Republic on Friday. “So, when the time comes to be sworn in, I’ll be a resident of District 6. It’s obviously a complicated situation because of how slow the judicial process took.”
On Tuesday, a panel of appellate court judges in the Indiana Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that Republican Joseph “Jay” Foyst was not a valid candidate in the 2023 municipal election for District 6 because the Bartholomew County Republican Party failed to “meet a statutory deadline for filling a vacancy on a general election ballot.”
The appellate court judges sent the case back to a lower court with instructions to declare Muñoz the winner of the election.
Muñoz, who was previously the band director at Columbus North High School, left the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. at the end of 2022 to take a job at Indianapolis-based Music Travel Consultants.
Muñoz is listed as assistant director of sales for the company, according to his LinkedIn profile and the company’s website.
Muñoz told The Republic in 2022 that he planned to stay in Columbus, remain active in the community and continue supporting public education despite the career change. When asked what prompted the move, Muñoz said he had been considering a change for several years now, and it provides the chance to “free up more time for me to pursue other interests, other opportunities, give myself a chance to explore those options.”
Muñoz sold his home on Cedarcrest Drive on the north side of the city earlier this year, according to county records. The Cedarcrest Drive address, which is in District 6, was listed on his voter registration as of earlier this week, according to the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office.
Muñoz told The Republic on Tuesday following the appellate court decision that he is “excited about what’s to come.” He also attended Tuesday’s city council meeting.
For the complete story, see Saturday’s Republic.
