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Indianapolis Satar - January 13, 2008
Indiana voters may send second Muslim to congress
By Mary Beth Schneider
When Andre Carson was a teenage rapper, his stage name was "Juggernaut."
Democrats are hoping that label is prophetic, choosing the fast-rising Carson, 33, on Saturday as their nominee in a special election to fill the 7th Congressional District seat left vacant by the death of his grandmother, U.S. Rep. Julia Carson.
Julia Carson, who served in Congress from 1996 until her death Dec. 15, is a legend in Indiana politics, and Democrats voted Saturday to continue her legacy by backing her grandson.
Andre Carson, a member of the City-County Council since mid-2007 and a former State Excise Police officer, won on the first ballot in the caucus of Democratic precinct committee chairmen and chairwomen. Of the 599 who were eligible to vote, 439 cast ballots. Carson received 223 votes to clinch the nomination in the field of eight candidates.
State Rep. David Orentlicher, D-Indianapolis, was runner-up with 123 votes, and Marion County Treasurer Michael Rodman was a distant third with 27 votes.
Party insiders, who had packed the Shortridge Middle School auditorium, leapt to their feet cheering as state party Chairman Dan Parker announced that Carson was the nominee for the March 11 special election. The district covers most of Marion County…..
If elected, Carson would be the first Muslim to represent Indiana in Congress. And he said anyone who thinks that his religion might be a political handicap are underestimating Hoosiers.
"I'm an Indy 500 Hoosier. I'm a Covered Bridge Festival Hoosier. I'm a Black Expo Hoosier. I'm a Muslim Hoosier. But I am an American, and I love America," Carson said, with his wife, Mariama, and 13-month-old daughter, Salimah, at his side.
Now, he said, he hopes to unify Democrats and draw support from independents and some "Republicans who are open-minded" to win the special election and the May 6 primary to be on the ballot for the November general election.
Although the Democrats whom Carson defeated Saturday hugged and congratulated him, some still plan to run in that May primary.
Orentlicher and state Rep. Carolene Mays, who finished fourth with 26 votes, indicated they plan to seek the nomination in the primary, despite their losses. So did Marshall Middle School Principal Jeffery White, who received eight votes…..
Carson said his effort now is to unify different factions in the party and to push an issues-oriented campaign. He favors a swift withdrawal of troops from Iraq; the ratification of international treaties to address global warming; revisiting President Bush's tax breaks, which he said benefit the super-rich; and funding to fulfill the No Child Left Behind education program.
"The number one issue will have to be, for us, education," he said. "Education is the center. When you're dealing with the war in Iraq; when you're dealing with the Kyoto Protocol (on global warming); when you're dealing with the homeless situation we have in our country, we're going to focus on education."……
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080113/LOCAL19/801140342/1006/LOCAL
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