Incumbent Democrat Bart Peterson was reelected to a second term.

[2] Peterson won reelection by a large margin.

2003 was a good year for Democrats in Indiana's mayoral elections, with the party winning control of the mayoralties of all of the state's top seven most populous cities for the first time since 1959.

[4] The Democratic Party also won control of the mayoralties in twenty of the state's thirty cities with populations above 25,000.

[4] Additionally, in 2003, Democrats won more than 56% of partisan mayoral races in Indiana.