Progressive Indiana Network: https://progressiveindiana.net
HoosLeft: https://hoosleft.us
Karla Lopez Owens: https://klo4change.com/
SUMMARY:
Karla Lopez Owens joins Scott Aaron Rogers for a wide-ranging conversation about her campaign for Marion County Clerk -- the office overseeing court records, child support, marriage licenses, and, most critically, the Marion County Election Board. An immigrant from Mexico who arrived in the United States at age eight, Karla draws a direct line from her childhood as an interpreter and translator for her family in professional settings to her fifteen years of public service work, most recently as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and Director of Community Outreach with the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. She talks about the clerk’s role as a vehicle for a people-first philosophy of government — demystifying bureaucracy, meeting constituents where they are, and breaking down barriers that go well beyond language. The conversation takes a sharp turn into the state of Democratic Party politics in Marion County, with Karla laying out three root causes of the county’s historically low voter turnout: systemic access barriers for transient and marginalized populations, a lack of competitive primary races, and deep voter apathy rooted in a feeling of abandonment by party leadership. She speaks candidly about Marion County Party Chair Myla Eldridge’s mass challenge of dozens of progressive delegate and precinct committee candidacies in early 2026, calling the hearing “traumatizing and demoralizing.” Scott and Karla close on the mechanics of civic power-building: why voting in the Democratic primary is a prerequisite for running for office, and how overwhelming people power is the only path to reforming a party establishment that controls resources and access.
WHAT’S INSIDE:
00:00:22 Introduction and Housekeeping
- Scott introduces the show one week out from the May 5, 2026 Indiana primary.
00:04:44 Meet Karla Lopez Owens
- Karla arrived in the U.S. from Mexico at age eight with her family, who were searching for work.
- Her mother worked at a turkey factory in North Carolina before relocating to Indianapolis to work as a housekeeper after a call from a relative.
- Karla and her sisters grew up serving as interpreters and translators for their family in professional settings -- doctors’ offices, attorneys’ offices, schools.
- She describes this bridging role as her introduction to public service, and notes the mix of welcoming and unwelcoming experiences that shaped her drive to make government more accessible.
00:07:54 Citizenship, Civic Engagement, and the Decision to Run
- Karla became a U.S. citizen at 18 through a family-based petition and registered to vote immediately.
- She frames running for clerk as a continuation of fifteen years of public service -- including five and a half years at the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and five years as voter education chair for the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus.
- She recently served as president of the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus; new leadership was elected the same day as this interview.
- The clerk’s office is, in her view, the ideal vehicle to scale the people-first work she’s already doing.
00:10:47 The Scale of the Job: Marion County Clerk vs. Congress
- Marion County is Indiana’s most populous and most diverse county; a countywide elected official represents more constituents than any member of Congress.
- In the November 2024 general election -- one of the most consequential in modern history -- Marion County had the second lowest voter turnout in the state.
- Karla calls that result “unforgivable” and sees reversing it as central to her candidacy.
- Lake County and Marion County together could be driving statewide Democratic performance if organized properly.
00:14:28 What the Marion County Clerk Actually Does
- The clerk’s office is among the most public-facing in county government: it is the official record keeper for court records, handles filings to initiate legal proceedings, manages child support payments, issues marriage licenses, and oversees other administrative procedures.
- The clerk also serves as secretary to the Marion County Election Board, which oversees all countywide elections and trains and equips poll workers.
- Karla emphasizes the office’s dual role: administrative record-keeping and the election infrastructure that determines who participates in democracy.
00:16:44 People-First: Ideas for Improving the Office
- Karla resists framing the clerk’s role as purely administrative -- she sees significant leeway to change culture, outreach posture, and accessibility.
- Her model comes from her circuit court work overseeing hardship license cases, where she often acts more like a social worker than a prosecutor -- guiding pro se litigants step by step through processes they don’t understand.
- She advocates for meeting people in the community with information, not just waiting for them to come to the office.
- Visibility and consistency matter: public servants who show up, stay, and actually listen rather than making brief appearances.
00:22:00 Redefining Accessibility
- Accessibility goes beyond language and disability accommodations -- it encompasses the economic realities of poverty.
- Many court users don’t have credit cards, bank accounts, smartphones, or access to ride-share; they can’t use a parking app or pay a fee online.
- Karla describes writing out step-by-step instructions for court users with low literacy as a routine part of her current job.
- Potential solutions she raises: more bus passes, stronger inter-agency relationships, expanded community advocates.
00:25:13 Government as Public Good
- Scott frames the exchange in terms of the Democratic philosophy of government as a service that belongs to the people -- not an alien, intimidating institution.
- Karla agrees that demystifying the processes and making the clerk’s office a known, trusted resource is foundational to everything else.
- The conversation pivots toward Marion County’s voter turnout problem and what a people-first clerk can do about it.
00:27:07 Why Marion County Voter Turnout Is So Low
- Karla identifies three categories of causes from research she’s read: structural access barriers, lack of competitive races, and voter apathy.
- Structural barriers hit transient populations hardest -- renters, students, people who move frequently and lose track of registration; Karla relates this to her own childhood, attending a new school every year until North Central High School.
- The lack of competitive primary races removes a reason to participate; if nothing is contested, there’s nothing to vote for.
- Apathy is the result of people feeling abandoned and alienated by systems designed to serve a select few -- not a personal failing of individual voters.
00:30:35 How to Reverse It
- The fix requires consistent, meaningful outreach at the community level -- apartment complexes, soccer clinics, wherever people actually are -- not token appearances.
- Education on rights and processes is the second lever: people who know what’s available are more likely to engage.
- Karla flags the practical requirement many don’t know: to run for any party or elected position in Indiana, you must have voted in a Democratic primary. She calls this information the establishment “doesn’t want you to know.”
- She acknowledges the party’s selective enforcement of rules and the exceptions that are quietly made for favored candidates.
00:34:31 The Democratic Party Is Also the Problem
- Karla turns the criticism inward: it’s not just Republican voter suppression that drives down turnout, it’s the behavior of the Democratic establishment itself.
- She pivots to February 2026, when Marion County Party Chair Myla Eldridge filed dozens of challenges against progressive candidates for precinct committee person and Indiana state delegate.
- The hearing before the Marion County Election Board -- where then-clerk Kate Sweeney Bell served as adjudicator -- was “traumatizing and demoralizing” for the challengers.
- Notices went out on a Friday at 5 p.m. before a holiday weekend with a wrong email address; Karla had to reassure participants they weren’t being sued.
00:40:01 The Pattern: Eldridge, Bell, and the 2022 Precedent
- Karla notes that Bell and Eldridge have swapped the clerk and party chair roles, creating a continuous power structure across cycles.
- She watched back hearings from previous election cycles and found eerily similar patterns of targeted challenges.
- Her critique isn’t with rules per se -- as an attorney she respects procedural law -- but with the systemic barriers the establishment creates while invoking rules selectively.
- Emails go unanswered, calls go ignored, and discretion is exercised only when it serves those in power.
00:42:19 Safe Seats, Both Parties Ratchet Right
- Scott lays out his critique of safe-seat politics: the conventional wisdom says safe Democratic seats produce more progressive officeholders, but he argues the opposite is true.
- Money captures safe seats regardless of party; in blue districts, the result is Democrats who work for developers and real estate interests, govern as centrists, and actively resist new entrants from marginalized communities.
- Karla agrees it’s a reflection of current Democratic Party leadership and frames it as the reason for the low-turnout doom loop: a corrupt establishment demotivates the voters it needs.
- The solution is organized people power -- replacing those who hold a stranglehold on the party structure with new leadership built from the ground up.
00:44:50 Why Voting in the Primary Is the Key
- Karla returns to the practical ask: even if you’re disillusioned, voting in the primary preserves your right to run for office in Indiana.
- Pulling a Democratic primary ticket is a prerequisite for running as precinct committee person, state delegate, city-county council, state representative, or state senate -- you cannot access the ballot without it.
- She calls this the rule the establishment weaponizes while quietly making exceptions; getting that information into communities is part of her platform.
- The 2026 primary saw an unprecedented surge of people wanting to be involved as precinct committee persons and state delegates -- exactly the wave Karla wants to channel.
00:49:04 People Power Over Establishment Resources
- Resources in party politics flow through the establishment; outsiders have to kiss the ring to access them, which means compromising their platform.
- The only alternative is resourcefulness and coalition-building from the ground up.
- Karla identifies herself as a socialist democrat and progressive democrat who wants to work with the party -- but will work to replace leadership that won’t engage honestly.
- She expresses genuine optimism: there’s energy, enthusiasm, and ganas (will) to build something new if people channel it into concrete civic action.
00:53:19 Cross-Party Support and the Case for Competition
- Karla notes she has received commitments from Republicans who’ve seen her work and believe in her vision of local government that serves everyone.
- First-time voters, young voters, and new citizens are among those newly engaged and at stake in this election cycle.
- She embraces primary competition as healthy; if you can stand on your record, you should welcome a challenge.
- Karla is on the ballot three times in her east-side Irvington neighborhood: for clerk, precinct committee person, and Indiana state delegate.
00:54:22 How to Get Involved
- Website: klo4change.com
- Email: karla@klo4change.com
- Instagram: @Kowens - official campaign account
- Substack: forthcoming post summarizing her platform and the campaign’s work
- Campaign needs: phone banking, canvassing, and poll workers on Election Day more than money at this stage
- Karla thanks her volunteers and closes with a commitment to continue the work regardless of the outcome.
00:57:47 Outro and Upcoming Programming
- Election Day is May 5, 2026; early voting is currently open.
- Thursday, 7 p.m.: HoosLeft interview with Keil Roark (IN-9 congressional candidate).
- Sunday, 10:30 a.m.: HoosLeft This Week with guests Fred Miller (songwriter/artist) and Sharon Wight (HD-81 candidate).
- Sunday, 7 p.m.: Final PIN Virtual Town Hall of the primary season with Dr. Tim Peck (IN-9).
- Tuesday, May 5, 7 p.m.: PIN Election Night coverage with Scott, Derrick Holder, Brianna Newhart, Kelly DeLong, Carlie Dunn, and guests.
- Subscribe at progressiveindiana.net; follow PIN and HoosLeft across social platforms.
