Carson's Grandson One Step Closer To Congress

By Josh Kraushaar

(The Politico)  Andre Carson, the grandson of the late Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.), will face off against Republican state legislator Jon Elrod in a March special election to fill the remainder of his grandmother’s unfinished term.

The six-term congresswoman died last December after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Andre Carson, a newly-elected Indianapolis city councilor, won the Democratic party nomination on the first-ballot at a Saturday caucus among district-wide precinct committee chairmen. He easily outdistanced his leading rivals, state Reps. David Orentlicher, Carolene Mays and Marion County Treasurer Peter Rodman, for the nomination.

But he is poised to face a serious fight for the seat against Elrod, who overwhelmingly won the GOP nomination on Sunday.

The district, centered in Indianapolis, traditionally favors Democrats, but the surrounding area has been showing signs of receptiveness towards Republican candidates lately.

Despite representing the most Democratic district in the state, Julia Carson only narrowly won reelection against a little-known opponent last year — in a year when three Republican congressmen from Indiana lost.

The city of Indianapolis recently ousted their incumbent Democratic mayor Bart Peterson, who lost against obscure Republican challenger Greg Ballard. Ballard was given next-to-no chance of winning and was outspent by a ten-to-one margin.

And Elrod scored a surprising upset of his own last year, winning a solidly-Democratic state legislative seat against an veteran opponent.

Indeed, a newly-released Democratic-sponsored poll conducted for one of Carson’s rivals for the nomination suggests that Elrod has a fighting chance to win the special election.

Andre Carson only led Elrod 41 to 38 percent among district-wide voters, even though Carson sports significantly higher name recognition than his Republican rival.

“Potential candidate Andre Carson is the least popular figure we tested, and is even less popular than Governor Mitch Daniels,” the poll memo said.

The poll, conducted by Momentum Analysis, surveyed 400 district-wide voters between January 5-7.

If Carson won the special election, he would be only the second Muslim to serve in Congress. The first, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), was elected last year.

The special election is scheduled for March 11.