Well, the fifth Democrat announced her retirement today. Rep. Julia Carson of Indiana who was considered to be on her way out already, due to her ailing health has decided to thankfully call it quits.
But make no mistake this is going to be highly competitive, Indianapolis recently had a mayoral election in which a Republican upset the Democratic Incumbent.
Whoever takes the elder Carson’s place on the Democratic side of the ballot will likely face off against Republican Jon Elrod, a 30-year-old state representative whose candidacy is viewed favorably by the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Her district covers most of Indianapolis, and gave John Kerry 57 percent of the vote in the 2004 presidential race. However, Carson’s margins of victory since a 2002 redistricting had been fairly narrow, especially given the Democratic tilt of the seat.
The election of Republican Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard earlier this month, who ousted the Democratic incumbent, put the district on the GOP radar screen.
One possible Democratic successor is her grandson, Indianapolis City Councilman Andre Carson, who is already gathering support from some local Democratic official
So I'm kind of interested in wondering what the situation is down there and if this is still a democratic-leaning seat or could this one possibly be the only open seat we are going to have to defend vigorously?