election in 2006 pitted five-term incumbent Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Julia Carson

Julia Carson

Julia May Carson , born Julia May Porter, was a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 1997 until her death in 2007 . Carson was the first woman and first African American to represent the 7th District...

 against Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Eric Dickerson.

Automobile dealer Eric Dickerson is a native of Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 and a graduate of Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....

 where he received his B.S. in engineering. Dickerson is a former U.S. Marine Corps officer and served with the HMA 269 Attack Squadron in Jacksonville, North Carolina

Jacksonville, North Carolina

Jacksonville, North Carolina, is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the population stood at 70,145, which makes Jacksonville the 14th largest city in North Carolina...

. He later served in the Indiana National Guard

Indiana National Guard

The Indiana National Guard is the armed force of the state of Indiana. It consists of the Indiana Army National Guard and the Indiana Air National Guard, and is part of the larger Army National Guard and the Air National Guard...

.

Julia Carson had held this Congressional seat based in urban Indianapolis

Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 since 1997, and had always won by comfortable margins. Republicans hoped to take the seat in the 2006 elections after redistricting made the 7th slightly more Republican, though Democrats still held the advantage.

Dickerson ran an aggressive grass-roots campaign, defeating the party-endorsed candidate, Ronald Franklin, and two other candidates in the Republican primary on May 2, 2006. He gained further support as the campaign progressed, with an October poll shocking observers of both parties when it showed Dickerson narrowly leading Carson 45% to 42%. Carson dismissed the poll, saying that she always polled more strongly than expected on election day. She was proven correct, winning her sixth term on November 7, 2006.

Republican primary

Eric Dickerson	54%
Ronald Franklin	22%
John Bauer	18%
Michael Simpson	6%

Democratic primary

Julia Carson	81.2%
Kris Kiser	11%
Bob Hidalgo	4.6%
Joseph 'Hippie Joe' Stockett	2.0%
Pierre Quincy Pullins	0.8%

General election

Julia Carson (D)	54%
Eric Dickerson (R)	46%

External links

• Eric Dickerson's campaign site