Posted on 12/15/2007 3:57:18 PM PST by digger48
INDIANAPOLIS - A family spokeswoman said Representative Julia Carson has died at age 69. Spokeswoman Vanessa Summers says the first black and first woman to represent Indianapolis in Congress died this morning after a battle with lung cancer.
The Democrat announced last month that doctors had diagnosed her with terminal lung cancer and that she would not seek re-election next year.
Carson won more than two dozen consecutive campaigns for local, legislative and congressional elections. She also championed children's issues, women's rights, affordable housing and efforts to reduce homelessness. She was a staunch opponent of the war in Iraq.
It will be up to Governor Mitch Daniels to call a special election to complete the last year of Carson's term in the predominantly Democratic district.
Carson served in Congress for six terms. Before assuming her seat in Congress, Carson served in the Indiana General Assembly and was the Center Township Trustee. Funeral plans for Carson are pending.
Julia Carson made a career of serving the public. The lifelong public servant will be remembered for her rise from poverty and for her fighting spirit. Included on her Congressional website is a quote from former Congressman Andy Jacobs about his successor: "The only thing some people learn from oppression is hatred and revenge. Others learn compassion and empathy. From the physical pain of material poverty and the mindlessly cruel persecution of nitwit racism, Julia Carson made her choice of hard work, compassion and a pleasing sense of humor."
Julia Carson first ran for office in 1972. She served 18 years in the Indiana General Assembly, first as a state representative then as a state senator. In 1990, Carson left the legislature and ran for Center Township Trustee. She served six years in that role. After her time as a trustee, she wanted a new challenge and ran for the Congressional seat Andy Jacobs had vacated. She had Jacob's endorsement for the job and he remained a close friend until her death.
Carson's victory in the congressional race led to her being the first woman and the first African-American U.S. Representative from Indianapolis. However, Carson missed her swearing-in ceremony. Instead, she was at Methodist Hospital where doctors performed bypass surgery, unclogging two blocked arteries. After recuperating, she was able to celebrate her win three months later with a reception in Washington, D.C.
Carson spent several days in and out of the hospital around the 2004 general election. During a 24-Hour News 8 debate, the Congresswoman responded to questions about her health saying she would resign her office if she felt physically unable to serve.
Again during the run for her sixth term in office, her health was an issue in the race. Despite ongoing questions about her health, she easily beat her Republican challenger for her sixth term.
She was serving her sixth term when she took a leave of absence from Congress in September 2007 citing a leg infection. Carson announced she wouldn't run for re-election in November 2007 after revealing she had recurrent lung cancer that was discovered when she was being treated for her leg infection.
Stay with 24-Hour News 8 for more on this story as it develops.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Prayers for her soul, and for her family.
The more that make a career out of it, the more will age and die in the office. Frankly, I think that anyone who seeks office knowing they are terminally ill enough to likely not serve out their term is doing a disservice to their constituents. Sorry this Congresswoman died of cancer, but knowing that she was going to, she should have gracefully stepped aside.
I wish her family solace in their time of grief. Losing a loved one at anytime is bad but losing it during the holidays is particularly bittersweet.
I just saw this on the news.
Sad, and a loss. Face it folks, we are privileged to have people like her working for us, even if we don’t agree with them about some things.
She didn’t have bagloads of cash in her freezer.
She didn’t hang out in bathrooms tapping her feet.
No dead bodies found rolled up in carpets.
She seriously and honestly and humbly worked for the people in her district, which is just about the very best any of us can hope for.
Prayers and condolences to her family and friends.
I feel for the congresswoman’s family. It is hard to be happy during this time.
As far as I know the deaths of the other congressmen-especially that of Gilmor-came suddenly.
I don't how you can impose a standard like that on candidates though.
Paul Tsongas died of cancer several years after he would have (theoretically) served out his second term.
Lane Evans has Parkinson's, IIRC, but he's been able to maintain his health well enough to do his job-although I personally feel his work is to the detriment of his constituents.
I do agree that keeping a congressmen or senator in office even when he's physically and/or mentally incapacitated makes a mockery of our political process.
Cancer has taken the lives of five members of Congress now in 2007: Thomas, Norwood, Davis, McDonald and now Carson.
She did just that as center township trustee...I remember hearing about it, she would walk the street and tell the men to get off their butts, get a job and raise their kids.
She did some good work on the local level, once in washington she was Andy Jacobs puppet, then the parties.
I called Julia a fair amount of names over the years and disagreed with her but I never wished ill, I hope she has found peace.
I think Marion Co is trending more, and more Republican lately (I predict with hardwork- a “pick-up”).
She’s free from her pain and suffering. People on both sides of the aisle can come together to celebrate her life, before commencing on the future of Indianapolis.
Lane Evans retired in 2006.
My bad.
Thanks for the correction.
So who's representing his district now?
Actually, a lot of the former hard core Dems (namely the black population) have moved to areas of Indianapolis outside the 7th. It’s all dependent upon how much of the Republican vote we can turn out.
As far as Eric Dickerson (the 2006 candidate) goes, he’s not said anything about the race. He’s been busy with personal business. One viable candidate for Congress is announced and that is State Rep. Jon Elrod.
Lane Evans' former staffer.
I used to keep track of these things-in fact, one year I read the entire contents of The Almanac of American politics-but I've kind of burned out on the subject, to be honest.
Wednesday’s cocktails and conversation - McCormick & Schmidt’s, 110 N. Illinois St.
Lot’s to talk about.
Nor I. But I guess she can still vote.
Although it wasn’t cancer, Gillmor died in office too. Six dead Congressmen in one year. Weird.
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