HEIRS TO THE THRONE
You might recall how I equated the process to succeed outgoing Congresswoman Julia Carson to that of the queen passing and the subsequent royal family jockeying for position. Well if anyone tells you there is no positioning going on they are lying to your face. For right now it looks like for the major players in Democratic circles the race is coming down to two individuals, City-County Council member Andre Carson, Julia’s grandson, and State Representative Carolene Mays.
What makes these two choices so intriguing is not so much who they are, but who they are affiliated with. In addition to being Julia’s grandson, Carson has strong ties with Democratic power broker Lacy Johnson, a key Julia ally and advisor. Mays, on the other hand, is related to wealthy businessman Bill Mays who has a lot of business interests in this town and a lot of wealth to go along with it. Mays is also an investor in 300 East, the famed restaurant-bar in the Julia Carson Center which caused a big stir last year. Ironically sources say the two are rumored to meet this weekend in 300 East, perhaps to try to hammer out their differences of opinion. There is already alleged tension between the two as they vie to become the top player in Marion County Democratic politics, as there is no leader now that the Mayor and the Council will no longer be in Democratic hands, and Julia will not be back next year.
And complicating matters is outgoing City-Council President Monroe Gray. Council Democrats have to come together soon to pick a new Minority Leader and the race is between Gray and current Vice-President Joanne Sanders. The caucus is split along racial lines with the Blacks supporting Gray and the whites supporting Sanders. Carson, who is black, is in the Gray camp. However, a vote for Gray could cost him a Congressional seat in the general election.
Follow me on this one if it seems confusing. One of the reason County Democrats lost was because of Gray and his ethically-challenged behavior. For Carson to vote for him for a leadership position would give Republicans, who actually have a shot at winning the 7th Congressional seat for the first time in ten years, a ton of ammunition. Can’t you see the ad right now, “Andre Carson’s first vote as a newly elected Council Member was for Monroe Gray as their leader. Gray voted to raise your taxes 19 times, locked you out of city hall (you can fill in the rest). If Carson will vote for someone like Monroe Gray what will he do in Washington?” You see what I mean. This is something Democrats will have to take into account should Gray become the leader. They are all still shell shocked over last month’s loss and are still blaming each other, Gray included. Of course Carson could take this issue off the table by not voting for Gray, but instead Sanders, but that remains to be seen.
Regardless in all this, whether it is Mays or Carson, what you likely won’t see is a white candidate get the party nod. There are too many people in Democratic circles who think the 7th Congressional seat should stay in the hands of the African-American community. Should that follow suit and an African-American get the nod, Republicans may have no choice but to follow suit. Marion County is approximately 27% Black, so in order for race to not become an issue, and trust me it can and will, the two main candidates to succeed Julia Carson may have to have the same pigment, instead of the same politics.
Life is about to get a lot more interesting folks. Stay tuned.
