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http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080113/LOCAL19/801140342/1006/LOCAL

Grandson of legend receives party’s nod
Andre Carson seeks unity for special election in March

By Mary Beth Schneider
mary.beth.schneider@indystar.com

From the Sunday Star: This story was produced for Sunday’s Star but was not published due to production problems.

The winner is: Andre Carson was congratulated by Democratic Party officials after receiving 223 of the 439 votes cast in Saturday’s caucus. “We did it!” he shouted moments later. “Thank God, we did it!” - Charlie Nye / The Star

Andre Carson

• Party: Democratic.
• Age: 33.
• Occupation: Marketing specialist for Cripe Architects & Engineers; formerly an Indiana State Excise Police officer whose assignments included working for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s Intelligence Fusion Center.
• Political experience: Elected in 2007 to City-County Council; precinct committee chairman in Center Township.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice management, Concordia University in Mequon, Wis.; master’s in business management, Indiana Wesleyan University.
• Personal: Grandson of the late U.S. Rep. Julia Carson; wife, Mariama, is assistant principal at Snacks Crossing Elementary School in Pike Township; 13-month-old daughter, Salimah.

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.

“We love you, Andre!” one woman shouted out as Carson bounded onto the stage.

“We did it!” a beaming Carson shouted back. “Thank God, we did it!”

Now, he said, “we all have to come together. No matter who you were for, we come together and show Republicans that this is a Democratic seat.”

Former U.S. Rep. Andy Jacobs, Julia Carson’s longtime friend and mentor, watched Carson’s victory from the auditorium’s balcony. He said it was an emotional moment.

“Oh, my God; oh, my God. You’ll never know,” Jacobs said. “It helps dry some tears.”
There’s no question that being Julia Carson’s grandson played a large role in Carson’s nomination.

Carson acknowledged that influence might concern some voters.

“Those are legitimate concerns. But they can also be reassured that she and I share the same philosophy: helping the people.”

Besides, he added, “my last name is Carson, but I’m Andre. I’m my own man, my own person.”
Barbara Mohler, a precinct committee chairwoman since 1965, said she’d been a personal friend of Julia Carson’s, and that enticed her to support Andre Carson. But, she said, she didn’t make up her mind until coming to Saturday’s caucus and talking to him and the other candidates.

He was “the most charismatic, the most personable” and the one she thought could best continue to carry on his grandmother’s public service, she said.

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.(MORE)