What Has André Carson Done On Food Insecurity?

600,000 Hoosiers Lost Food Assistance. He Issued a Statement. Hornedo Built a Resource Map.

Tuesday, April 28

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Indianapolis, IN — When the federal government shut down and SNAP benefits were cut off, 600,000 Hoosiers lost access to food assistance.

 

Not a policy debate. Not an abstraction. Families who had been counting on those benefits to feed their children went to the store and the card didn't work. Seniors on fixed incomes suddenly had nothing. Working parents who had stretched every dollar to make the month work found themselves with nothing to stretch.

 

This wasn’t a surprise. The warning signs were visible. The shutdown was coming. The cuts were foreseeable. The families who would be hurt were identifiable.

 

André Carson issued a statement.

 

He called the cuts wrong. He placed blame where blame belonged. The statement was accurate. It was appropriate. It was also the minimum possible response from a congressman with 18 years of relationships, a congressional office with staff, and the platform to do something more than describe the problem.

 

Meanwhile, a first-time congressional challenger with no staff, no institutional support, and no government office did something different.

 

George Hornedo researched food pantries, community fridges, mutual aid networks, and emergency resources across Indianapolis and the state. He built a living spreadsheet—open to the public, open to crowdsourcing, updated in real time as volunteers added what they knew and corrected what was wrong. He pushed it out through his campaign email list and social media. He carried it to the doors so that every conversation wasn't just about voting but about survival. He connected organizations that had resources with families that needed them.

That’s not a campaign talking point. That’s what showing up looks like when the system fails.

 

The question this moment raises is not whether André Carson cares about food insecurity. He does. The question is what the platform of a congressional office is for. It’s not just for voting on the right bills. It’s not just for issuing the correct statement when the crisis arrives. It’s for being the connective tissue between the people who need help and the resources that exist to provide it—before the cameras arrive, during the crisis, and after the news cycle moves on.

 

600,000 Hoosiers lost food assistance. The congressman representing Indianapolis issued a statement. A challenger with no office and no staff built a resource map and took it to the doors.

 

That contrast is about what you believe the job is.

 

"When 600,000 Hoosiers lost food assistance, our campaign did what we always do…we showed up," Hornedo said. "We built a resource map, crowdsourced it with volunteers, and carried it to the doors so people knew where to get help. Not because it was politically convenient. Because that's what you do when people are hungry. Indianapolis deserves a congressman who sees the job the same way and who doesn't wait for a press release opportunity to serve the people who sent him there."

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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.