Less than two weeks after his special election victory, Rep. André Carson has at least one Democratic primary opponent willing to shell out his own funds for his campaign.

Former state Health Commissioner Woody Myers (D) triggered the “Millionaires’ Amendment” last week by putting $550,000 of his own funds into his campaign.

Myers’ move allows all Democrats to accept triple the usual contribution limit for their primary campaigns, and both the national and state party can make unlimited coordinated expenditures on behalf of their preferred candidate. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has endorsed the incumbent Carson, but the state party central committee is meeting later this week to decide whether to do the same.

Carson won the March special election to serve out the remainder of the term left by his grandmother, former Rep. Julia Carson (D), who died in December following a battle with lung cancer.

Carson is running for a full term against Myers, state Rep. David Orentlicher and state Rep. Carolene Mays in the Democratic primary May 6, the winner of which will likely face state Rep. Jon Elrod (R) in November.

The Indianapolis-based district has voted for Democrats in Congress and presidential contests in recent years. However as part of an anti-incumbency trend across the state, Republicans took both the Indianapolis City Council and mayor’s office last November.
— Shira Toeplitz