More 7th District News

The 7th District Democratic race has grown more crowded with the entry of former state health commissioner Dr. Woody Myers. That makes five candidates for the Democrats despite efforts of the Democrats to anoint the late Rep. Julia Carson's grandson, Andre Carson, as her successor. Some of Carson's opponents, who were already suspicious of the conduct of the January caucus last month which chose Carson by a handful of votes on the first ballot over a number of more qualified candidates, will be asking more questions about the the transfer of funds from Julia Carson's campaign to the state Democratic Party. According to Carson's year-end report, her treasurer transferred a total of $12,000 to the state party in three separate payments on October 1, November 1 and December 1, 2007, respectively. These larger payments were in addition to other payments the campaign committee made to the party to reimburse it for rent and other expenses for the space it shares at the party's headquarters. Take note of the fact that the payments all came after Carson's hospitalization in September, which began her rapid decline before she passed away in December. The committee still had a balance of over $118,000 as of the end of the year. Finally, the Star reports that Carson becomes the first candidate to hit the airwaves with a TV ad. Mary Beth Schneider writes:

Democrat Andre Carson's first TV ad in his campaign to succeed his grandmother in Congress is as notable for what it doesn't say as for what it does.

Not once in the 30-second spot, which begins airing on Indianapolis TV stations today, does Carson mention former U.S. Rep. Julia Carson.

Julia Carson died Dec. 15, and her grandson Andre was selected by Democratic precinct committee members in January as their party's nominee in the March 11 special election.

But while the ad doesn't mention the late congresswoman by name, it does stress family.

"The most important thing I can pass on to my daughter are the values that my family taught me," Carson says in the ad, as the screen shows his 1-year-old daughter, Salimah. "Work hard, fight for what you believe in and help others."

And twice in the half-minute ad, Carson mentions bringing "change" to Washington.

Not surprisingly, the ad tells us little about Carson. What's he going to say? I got a political patronage job in Center Township Trustee's office right out of high school working for my grandma, She later used her political clout to get me a job as a state excise police officer. After a decade on the public dole, my grandmother's political machine got me appointed to the Indianapolis City-County Council and helped me get a job as a marketing representative for an engineering firm which does a lot of work with the City of Indianapolis and other local governments. And then my grandmother's political friends and Louis Farrakhan announced to everyone at my grandmother's funeral home that I was the chosen one to take her place in Congress. Yeah, that sounds pretty convincing, don't you think?