What Has André Carson Done For the People Who Fund Him?

73% PAC Money. 7% Small Dollar. The Donors. The Silence. The Pattern.

Thursday, April 16

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Indianapolis, IN — Follow the money.

 

73% of André Carson's campaign funding comes from political action committees, much of it from corporate PACs. Only 7% comes from small-dollar donors. The people of Indianapolis—the constituents he claims to represent—account for a fraction of what funds his political operation. The corporations, the defense contractors, the utilities, the financial institutions account for far more. This shows up in his record.

 

AES Indiana has donated to Carson's campaign. AES Indiana has raised residential utility rates in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2024. When AES went before state regulators seeking hundreds of millions in additional annual revenue from Indianapolis ratepayers, Carson was silent.

 

BlackRock—whose subsidiary is part of the consortium acquiring AES Corp in a $33.4 billion deal—has donated to Carson's campaign. Carson has said little about what that acquisition means for Indianapolis ratepayers who have no alternative utility to turn to.

 

The Bose McKinney & Evans law firm PAC—among Carson's top donors—represents the firm whose attorney argued for the Metrobloks data center in Martindale-Brightwood. The community opposed it. Carson was silent until after it passed.

 

Defense contractors have donated to Carson's campaign. Carson sits on the Intelligence Committee. The war in Iran rages. Carson hasn’t led.

 

This is the donor conflict of interest made visible. Not theoretical. Not speculative. A direct line between who writes the checks and where the silence falls.

 

Compare that to this campaign. 100% of George Hornedo's funding comes from individuals. 80% from small-dollar donors. Four times as many in-district donors as an 18-year incumbent. Not a single dollar from a corporate PAC because it was never sought.

 

The difference is both financial and structural. When you’re funded by the people, you answer to the people. When you are funded by corporations, the silence has a price tag.

 

Campaign finance reports are public. Indianapolis voters can see for themselves exactly who has been funding 18 years of incumbency and draw their own conclusions about who he has been working for.

 

"73% of André Carson's money comes from PACs," Hornedo said. "7% comes from small dollar donors. Even fewer comes from folks he actually represents. That ratio tells you everything you need to know about whose calls get returned and whose concerns get ignored. Indianapolis deserves a congressman whose first loyalty is to the people who sent him there rather than to the corporations writing the checks."

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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.

 

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.