Thursday, November 22, 2007

Your Choices: Dickerson And Kennedy

It's obviously a very unscientific poll of a small group of readers, but you've spoken on your Republican and Democratic choices for the 7th District congressional race to replace U.S. Rep. Julia Carson (D). On the Democratic side, one half of the poll participants favor Melina Kennedy over other potential challengers. Rep. Carolene Mays came in a distant second with 22% support followed closely by City-County Councilor Andre Carson with 20% of the vote. Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer finished fourth with only 5%. There are other Democrats I didn't list for no other reason than there wasn't room to include them on the survey. Those include Marion Co. Treasurer Mike Rodman, former Democratic state chairman Robin Winston, Rep. David Orentlicher, City-County Councilor Joanne Sanders and UAW executive Terry Thurman. The winner of this online poll, Melina Kennedy, has made no public announcement concerning her intentions and it is not even clear if she is seriously considering a bid for the seat.

On the Republican side, Rep. Jon Elrod is the only serious candidate who has announced plans to run for the 7th District seat. Last year's GOP nominee, Eric Dickerson, edged out Elrod in the poll by a very small 39-38% margin. Secretary of State Todd Rokita, who Roll Call magazine suggested as a potential candidate, received the support of only 6% of the respondents. Another 15% said they preferred someone else. As with Kennedy, Dickerson has made no public statement about his intentions next year. Many observers doubt he will enter the race, although he clearly has a reservoir of support left over from his close race against Carson last year on a shoe string budget.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Melina.... she's hot!

Anonymous said...

Kennedy has less chance in the 7th than Greg Porter.

Anonymous said...

10:08, you obviously know little of which you speak.

I don't think she'll run, because she has young children at home. And she's doing uber-well as a lawyer. But if she does, she's instantly a front-runner or near the top. And Greg Porter, if nominated, would be a superb candidate.

Things will start popping soon. Someone has to get out in front for slating. I'm pretty sure the Dems who want to run will be patient for a short while, giving Julia the chance to bow out gracefully. But if she doesn't make a public appearance, and seem re-electable at same, soon--all bets are off.

Anonymous said...

She ran a horrible campaign for prosecutor and was the only county Demo to lose......she made lots of enemies in her campaign...I wouldn't look for her to be on the ticket....there seems to be a groundswell of support for Greg Porter....I dont know if he is interested but I certainly support him.