John Zody

John Zody
File:John Zody.jpg
Chair of the Indiana Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office March 16, 2013
Preceded by	Dan Parker
Personal details
Born	John Chastain Zody (1977-03-31) March 31, 1977 Vigo County, Indiana, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	Indiana University, Bloomington (BSPA) Indiana University, Bloomington (MPA)

John Chastain Zody (born March 31, 1977) is an American public servant, educator, and politician who has been the Chair of the Indiana Democratic Party since March 2013. Zody is also an adjunct instructor at the Indiana University O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, teaching classes on electoral law and processes. Zody was previously the Great Lakes-Mid Atlantic Political Director on the 2012 re-election campaign of President Barack Obama, and formerly served as Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative Baron Hill from Indiana’s Ninth Congressional District from 2009-2011. On November 14, 2019, Zody announced that he would be a 2020 Democratic candidate for Indiana State Senate in the 40th District, which includes most of Monroe County, Indiana.

Education and early career

Born in Vigo County, Indiana, Zody grew up in Martinsville, Indiana and graduated from Martinsville High School in 1995. He received his Bachelor and Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University's O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. While an undergraduate, Zody was a collegiate rower and a participant in various student activities.

In 1999, Zody began service in Indiana state government, working in community development before serving as the Deputy Director of Communications and Planning for the late Governor Frank O'Bannon. Following O’Bannon’s death, Zody continued in the same role for Governor Joe Kernan. In 2004, Zody began working for Ivy Tech Community College, where he had duties in workforce development and civic engagement – and later in resource development for the college’s Bloomington campus. For his service in state government, Zody was awarded two Sagamores of the Wabash, at the time the highest honor bestowed by a governor on an Indiana citizen.

Following Congressman Baron Hill’s re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Zody served as Hill’s District Director and then as Chief of Staff in the 110th Congress. In 2012, Zody served on the re-election campaign of President Barack Obama as the Great Lakes-Mid Atlantic Political Director, where he had political duties in nine states and the District of Columbia.

Chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party

On March 16, 2013, Zody was unanimously elected Chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, where he has focused on growing the Party statewide by working with volunteers, county and district party organizations to recruit candidates for local, state and federal office. During his tenure, Indiana Democrats have worked to diversify and modernize the organization through investments in data, field, and training. In the 2018 and 2019 Indiana elections, the Indiana Democratic Party ran more first-time, female and millennial candidates than ever before, and elected a historically diverse group of candidates to local office in the 2019 municipal elections. Zody also serves as a member of the Democratic National Committee and is on the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, supporting and helping craft portions of the major reforms to the Party following the 2016 Presidential election.

2020 Candidacy for Indiana State Senate, District 40

In November 2019, Zody announced his 2020 candidacy for Indiana State Senate, District 40, which covers most of Monroe County, Indiana. In the announcement, he promised to be an advocate for the district to fight for livable wages, voting rights and environmental sustainability, while pushing to fulling fund early childhood and public education, as well as working to expand the right to vote in Indiana and eliminating partisan gerrymandering.

Personal life

Zody lives just outside Bloomington in Monroe County, Indiana with his wife and two children. His ancestors moved to Monroe and Morgan counties in South Central Indiana in the 1830s and 1840s.

Zody’s community activities include action in historic preservation, professional development, and service in Bloomington Rotary, the City of Bloomington Board of Zoning Appeals and on the Alumni Board at the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He has also served as Vice Chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party and is a graduate and distinguished alumni awardee of Leadership Bloomington-Monroe County.