What Has André Carson Done On Voter Turnout and Party Building?

The 7th District Is Now the Worst in Indiana for Voter Turnout. Democrats Have Lost Everything Under His Watch.
Friday, April 10

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Indianapolis, IN — When Julia Carson held this seat, Indianapolis was a Democratic stronghold that powered the entire state.

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Democrats were competing and winning statewide. The party was organized. The engine was running.

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That was then.

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Today, the 7th Congressional District ranks as the worst in Indiana for voter turnout. Indiana Democrats haven't won a statewide office since 2012. The party holds just 30 of 100 State House seats and 10 of 40 State Senate seats. Republicans have held a legislative supermajority for years—the kind that overrides vetoes, rewrites maps, and locks in one-party rule for a generation. Four seats separated Indiana Democrats from breaking that supermajority in 2024. Some of those races were decided by dozens of votes.

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This didn't happen despite André Carson. It happened under him.

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The 7th Congressional District is the most Democratic district in Indiana by a wide margin, D+21 by Cook Political Report. It should be the engine that powers Democratic growth statewide. A congressman representing a safe seat in a red state has an obligation that goes beyond his own reelection. The platform exists not just to cast votes in Washington but to rebuild the infrastructure that makes Democratic governance possible everywhere else.

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The numbers tell the story. In the 2024 cycle, Carson came in with approximately $450,000 in cash on hand. He spent $172,000 on transportation, luxury hotels, and steakhouses. He contributed $8,750 to local and state party activities, a rounding error. Meanwhile, Democratic State House candidates in competitive districts were losing by dozens of votes without the resources to fight back.

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Party building isn't glamorous. It doesn't generate press releases or television appearances. It requires showing up for candidates four seats away, investing in precincts that don't return your calls, and treating the health of the party as a personal responsibility rather than someone else's problem.

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That work has not been done. The results speak for themselves.

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"The most Democratic district in Indiana should be the beating heart of Democratic politics in this state," Hornedo said. "Instead, under André Carson, it has become the worst district in Indiana for voter turnout. That’s what happens when a congressman stops seeing the seat as a platform for the people and starts seeing it as a possession. Indianapolis—and Indiana—have paid the price."

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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.

 

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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.

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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.