Indiana's 7th congressional district special election of 2008 took place March 11, 2008 to fill the seat in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

left vacant by the death of 7th district representative

Julia Carson Julia May Carson (née Porter; July 8, 1938 – December 15, 2007) was a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 1997 until her death in 2007 (numbered as the 10th District from 1997 to 2003).

(D) on December 15, 2007. The election determined who would fill the vacancy for the rest of the

110th United States Congress The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...

. Indiana Gov.

Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician. A Republican, Daniels served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. Since 2013, Daniels has been pr ...

set the date for the special election.Executive Order 08-01
Mitch Daniels. January 7, 2008. Both political parties had previously agreed to this date.Special election confuses candidates
Brendan O'Shaughnessy January 6, 2008. ''

The Indianapolis Star ''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the '' Indiana ...

'' Democrat

André Carson André D. Carson (born October 16, 1974) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, his district includes the southern four-fifths of Indianapolis, including Downtown Indianap ...

won the election with an 18.17% voter turnout.

Candidates

On January 11, the Democratic caucus chose

to run in the March 11 special election.Andre Carson is Democratic nominee for 7th Congressional seat

WISH-TV WISH-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Marion-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23) and low-power, ...

, January 12, 2008. On January 12, the Republicans chose Jon Elrod as their candidate7th District race getting crowded
Kevin Rader. January 9, 2008. and the Libertarian caucus nominated Sean Shepard.The Green Papers: Indiana 2008 General Election
Green Papers, January 21, 2008.

Democratic

–

Indianapolis City-County Council The City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County is the legislative body of the combined government of the city of Indianapolis and the county of Marion in the state of Indiana. The council was established as part of the consolidation o ...

member, District 15, and Julia Carson's grandson *Ran for Nomination ** Carolene Mays – State Representative, District 94 **

David Orentlicher David Orentlicher is an educator, physician, attorney, and an American politician. He is a member of the Democratic Party and is the Judge Jack and Lulu Lehman Professor at UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law and co-director of the UNLV Hea ...

– State Representative, District 86 **Randle Pollard – Attorney **Michael Rodman – Marion County Treasurer **Joanne Sanders –

Minority leader, At-Large **Jeff White – John Marshall Middle School Principal **Frances Nelson Williams – Methodist Hospital Chaplain *Declined to Run ** Frank J. Anderson – Marion County SheriffRace for seat could divide Dems
Brendan O'Shaughnessy. December 16, 2007. ''The Indianapolis Star''. **Carl Drummer – Center Township Trustee **Woody Meyers – Former State Health Commissioner ** Bart Peterson – Former Indianapolis Mayor **

Greg Porter Greg Porter is a Democratic member of the Indiana House of Representatives, representing the 96th District since 1992. He is a member of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus. References External links Gregory Porter at ballotpedia.org*' ...

– State Representative, District 96 **Robin Winston – Former State Party Chairman

Libertarian

*Sean ShepardLPIN selects Sean Shepard for District 7 Congressional special election
/ref> – Small business owner

Republican

* Jon Elrod – State Representative, District 97Republicans chose State Representative for 7th Congressional seat
January 13, 2008. ''

'' *Ran for Nomination4 Republicans enter race to replace Carson
Dan McFeely January 11, 2008. ''

'' **Gabrielle Campo – Social worker **Thomas Rose – Radio talk show host and aide to former Mayor

Stephen Goldsmith Stephen "Steve" Goldsmith (born December 12, 1946) is an American politician and writer who was the 46th mayor of Indianapolis. He also served as the deputy mayor of New York City for operations from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Republican P ...

**Greg Stroude – Real estate broker *Declined to Run **

Eric Dickerson Eric Demetric Dickerson (born September 2, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Dickerson played college football for the Mustangs of Southern Meth ...

– Businessman, Julia Carson's 2006 challenger

Environment

The district, which covers most of Marion County, is considered difficult for Republicans. It includes most of what was the city of Indianapolis before the creation of

Unigov Unigov is the colloquial name adopted by the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, to describe its consolidated city–county government. By an act of the Indiana General Assembly, Indianapolis consolidated with the government of Marion County in 197 ...

in 1970, and includes most of the more Democratic areas of the county. John Kerry won the 7th district in 2004 with 58%, but after the November 2007 upset of Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson by Republican

Greg Ballard Gregory Alan Ballard (born November 20, 1954) is an American politician, author, and businessman who served as the 48th mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Marine Corps. On November 6, 20 ...

, the race was assumed to be competitive. However, in the precincts of the 7th District Democrat Bart Peterson still received 54% of the votes.

Results

External links

André Carson for CongressJon Elrod's campaign siteSean Shepard's campaign site

References

{{2008 United States elections Indiana 2008 07 Indiana 2008 07 2008 07 Special Indiana 07 Special United States House of Representatives 07 Special United States House of Representatives 2008 07