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Carson wins grandmother's seat; runoffs in Mississippi |
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By Walter Alarkon
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Posted: 03/11/08 11:38 PM [ET] |
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Democrat Andre Carson beat back a Republican challenge to win the Indiana House seat long held by his late grandmother, Julia Carson, in a special election on Tuesday.
Andre Carson was leading state Rep. Jon Elrod 53 percent to 44 percent with more than four-fifths of the precincts having reported. Libertarian Sean Shepard received 3 percent.
Carson, an Indianapolis City Councilman, said he would oppose the Iraq war and the privatization of Social Security, positions taken by his grandmother, who served in Congress for nearly 11 years. She passed away last December after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Elrod had planned on challenging Julia Carson. Though she had won each of her past three elections by 7 or 8 points, Elrod believed he could win by stressing his opposition to earmarks and a dedication to constituent services.
Elrod and Andre Carson may face off again, as both have committed to running for a full term this fall. Before November, they’ll have to run in primaries in May.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which spent about $250,000 on Carson’s behalf, applauded his victory Tuesday.
“Andre Carson will be a tremendous asset to our Democratic Caucus as we fight to strengthen our economy, end the war in Iraq, and restore the American dream to America’s middle class families,” said DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen (Md.) in a statement.
In Mississippi’s congressional primaries, also held Tuesday, just one candidate running in the two open-seat races clinched his party’s nomination. A candidate needed a majority of the primary vote to secure a spot on the November general election ballot.
In retiring GOP Rep. Chip Pickering’s district, Joel Gill defeated Randy Eads to win the Democratic primary. Gill, a Pickens alderman, was leading Eads, a businessman, by 10 points with 87 percent of the precincts reporting.
The Republican race in Pickering’s district will head to an April 1 run-off. Former state Sen. Charlie Ross received about a third of the vote, while Rankin County GOP Chair Gregg Harper and businessman David Landrum were battling it out for the second run-off slot. Harper led Landrum by 2 percent, or about 1,100 votes, with 87 percent of the vote reported.
In the Republican race in former Rep. Roger Wicker’s district, former Tupelo mayor Glenn McCullough and Southhaven Mayor Greg Davis advanced to an April 1 run-off. McCullough received 39 percent of the vote to Davis's 37 percent. Randy Russell, an ophthalmologist, had 24 percent with 97 percent of the vote reported.
Wicker left the House in January to replace Trent Lott (R) in the Senate.
Democrats Travis Childers and state Rep. Steve Holland advanced to their party’s April run-off. Childers, a county chancery clerk, received 41 percent of the vote, while Holland got 31 percent. None of the other three Democrats in the primary received more than 13 percent.
Republicans will be heavily favored in November to succeed Pickering and Wicker, according to the Cook Political Report.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D) easily won his primary over Dot Benford, 85 percent to 15 percent with nearly two-thirds of the precincts reported. Thompson will take on Richard Cook, who had no challenger in the GOP primary.
Rep. Gene Taylor had no challenger in his district’s Democratic primary. He’ll face Republican John McCay in November, who also was unopposed on Tuesday.
In the Democratic primary for the Senate, former state Rep. Erik Fleming won his party’s nod over Shawn O’Hara. Fleming will face Sen. Thad Cochran (R), who is seeking his fifth term and was unopposed in the GOP primary. |
