Several Democratic leaders in Indiana are supporting John Zody as the party’s next state chairman.

Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., former Gov. Joe Kernan, Reps. Pete Visclosky, D-1st, and André Carson, D-7th, and former Lt. Gov. Kathy Davis all endorsed Zody in statements issued Thursday by Donnelly’s campaign website.

Zody was the Midwest political director for President Obama’s re-election campaign. He has worked for Kernan, the late Gov. Frank O’Bannon and former U.S. Rep. Baron Hill, and he teaches a political science class at Indiana University in Bloomington.

Democratic Chairman Dan Parker is leaving after eight years in the post. The Democratic State Central Committee will choose his successor March 16.

Other possible candidates mentioned in news reports include former state Sen. Vi Simpson of Bloomington, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor last year, and Indianapolis architect Jim Schellinger, who sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 2008.