First African-American elected to the city council
Attorney Paul Swain Jr. first sought a seat on the Bloomington City Council as a candidate of the Citizens Party in 1983. Eight years later, he tried again as a Democrat. Unopposed in the May 1991 primary for one of three at-large council spots on the Democratic ticket, Swain prevailed in the November general election to become the first African-American elected to the city council. He served just one term. Running for re-election in November 1995, Swain finished fourth in a seven-person race, finishing about 200 votes behind Republican Rod Young for the third at-large seat. When asked in 1991 about being the first black candidate elected to the city council, Swain told a reporter, “I’m hopeful for a time when no minority candidate has to respond to, ‘How does it feel to be the first?’”