[2] Following his failed 1990 run for Secretary of State, incumbent Republican mayor William Hudnut III announced in December 1990 that he would not seek reelection in the following year's election.

[2] Marion County prosecutor Stephen Goldsmith defeated state senator Virginia Blankenbaker for the Republican nomination.

[2] Blankenbaker unsuccessfully sought to win by attracting crossover votes by Democrats.

[2] Goldsmith was open to increasing user fees to pay for infrastructure expenditures.

[2] Mahern lost a significant share of the traditionally-Democratic Catholic vote, which some experts attributed to his stance on abortion.