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 is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

left vacant by the death of 7th district representative Julia Carson (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 List of United States Congresses, meeting of the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and J ...

. Indiana Gov.

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

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, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, whe ...

'' Democrat

André Carson André Darryl 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 northern four-fifths of Indianapolis, including Downtown Ind ...

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 ...

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

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

, District 94 ** David Orentlicher –

, 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 The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is compos ...

–

, 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 –

, 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 Americans, American politician and writer who was the 46th List of mayors of Indianapolis, mayor of Indianapolis. He also served as the Mayor of New York City#Deputies, deputy mayor of Ne ...

**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 for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the SMU Mustangs, earning unanimous ...

– 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, India ...

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, 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