What Has André Carson Done? He's No Julia.

As Early Voting Opens Tomorrow, Hornedo Campaign Launches Daily Accountability Series Examining Carson's 18-Year Record
Monday, April 6

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Indianapolis, IN — Julia Carson never left the neighborhood.

 

For over 30 years, she lived in the same house in one of Indianapolis's toughest communities. By choice. When she went to Washington, she kept photos of fallen Indiana service members outside her office door. When she came home, people knew where to find her.

 

Julia Carson inherited a Center Township Trustee's office drowning in $20 million of debt and turned it into a $6 million surplus. She secured the Congressional Gold Medal for Rosa Parks. She voted against the Iraq War in 2002 when that vote cost something. She was named Indianapolis Star's Woman of the Year. Republican Congressman Dan Burton said at her memorial: "The community loved Julia Carson because she was honest, she was direct, she cared and she worked hard for her people."

 

That's the standard this seat was built on.

 

André Carson has held this seat for 18 years. In that time, the Indiana Democratic Party has gone from 51 House seats to 30. Marion County voter turnout has cratered to second-worst among Indiana's 92 counties. Indianapolis has fallen behind peer cities in federal funding. The nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking ranks him 197th out of 220 House Democrats in legislative effectiveness.

 

When Martindale-Brightwood residents spent months begging their government to stop a data center they didn't want, Carson was silent until after it passed. When Martin University, Indiana's only predominantly Black institution serving adult learners, was on the verge of closing, Carson issued a statement six days before the doors shut. When the 16th Street bridge announced a two-year closure affecting thousands of residents, the Transportation Committee member said nothing.

 

During this campaign, I've heard from folks across this district who feel something has been lost. Not just policy. Presence. The sense that someone in that seat sees them, hears them, and fights for them not because an election is coming but because that's what the job is.

 

Julia Carson understood that. She didn't wait to be asked. She showed up.

 

Beginning today, the Hornedo campaign will release a daily accountability statement through May 4th examining what Congressman Carson's 18 years in office have actually produced for this city. The series will cover everything from infrastructure and housing to party building, youth violence, federal funding, and civic engagement. Each release will ask the same question voters are asking at the doors: What has André done?

 

The question isn't whether André Carson is a bad person. It's whether Indianapolis is getting what this seat is capable of delivering.

 

Julia Carson showed us what that looks like.

 

 

 

This is part of the Hornedo campaign's daily accountability series, What Has André Carson Done?, running through May 1st. Learn more at georgehornedo.com.

 

Indianapolis deserves more than a vote in Washington. It deserves a congressman who uses the full platform of the office to fight for federal resources, to force the conversation at every level of government, and to show up for this community before the cameras arrive. That's the standard. That's what's been missing.

 

RECORD CHECK: The Center for Effective Lawmaking ranks Congressman Carson 197th out of 220 House Democrats in legislative effectiveness. Of his claimed 22 bills signed into law, 2 are standalone enacted bills—the Ariel Rios Federal Building naming and the Kennedy-King National Commemorative Site Act. 

 

73% of Congressman Carson's campaign funding comes from PACs, much of it from corporate PACs including AES Indiana, BlackRock, and defense contractors. Only 7% comes from small-dollar donors.

 

When Julia Carson held this seat, Indianapolis was a competitive Democratic stronghold that helped power statewide wins. Under André Carson, the 7th Congressional District has become the worst in Indiana for voter turnout and Democrats haven't won statewide since 2012.

 

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