There were three people in front of me when I went to vote in the 7th District election this morning.  That’s not a crowd but it is a sign of some voter interest.

It took me longer than planned, not because of any problem at the poll, but because a volunteer for Jon Elrod stopped me a the door to take issue with something I wrote in this space a few days ago.  Isn’t it that person’s to be nice to me at that point?

Now, I’ve never run an election so I’m no expert on these things, but I wondered about the time it will take to count votes when I had to fold my ballot three times to put it in a cardboard box.  Unfolding and smoothing will add considerable time to the count, I figure, and a bigger slot in the box didn’t seem like too much to ask.

State Rep. Greg Porter (D-Indianapolis) finally decided where he future lies. 

Porter thought long and hard about a run for Congress in the 7th District, but today filed for re-election to the Indiana House of Representatives.   He is seeking a ninth term.

Some of you pointed out that I was one-for-two on my caucus predictions in the 7th Congressional District over the weekend. That will get you to the big leagues in other lines of work.

While I correctly picked Democrat Andre Carson, I underestimated Republican Jon Elrod. Elrod is fast making a career of exceeding expectations and he, again, begins this race for the March 11th special election as an underdog.

Carson has more name ID, favorable demographics but writing Elrod off is a bad idea.

Meantime, Democrat Robin Winston put out a news release to say he won’t run in the May primary. How crowded will that field be?

Put this in the no guts, no glory category.  Buoyed by my 5 for 6 performance in November, I feel the need to predict Saturday’s caucuses in the 7th Congressional District.

Democrats– I say Andre Carson gets the nomination.  David Orentlicher is a dark horse.

Republicans–Tom Rose is my choice with Rep. Jon Elrod close behind.

State Representative Carolene Mays (d-Indianapolis) is a candidate in the Saturday caucus that will choose a nominee in the 7th District special election March 11th. She walked into Democratic HQ to fill out the paperwork minutes ago.

Mays joins Julia Carson’s grandson, Andre Carson, political newcomer Randle Pollard, and Marion County Treasurer Mike Rodman. She says she will also be a candidate in the May primary.

While its still too early to get out the scorecard for candidates in the 7th District, its not too early to familiarize yourself with some of the rules that will be in play early next year.

The Republicans and Democrats will each choose a nominee for a Special Election to replace Julia Carson and the party caucuses could take place as early as January 12th.  That doesn’t leave much campaign time for candidates who likely won’t declare until after Christmas.

But, wait, there’s also a primary in that district in May and the filing deadline for that contest begins January 22nd.  Its entirely possible we will see candidates running for the primary who are not nominees in the special. 

That means candidates from the same party running for the same seat but in two different elections at the same time.

Keeping score could be difficult.

The long list of politicians considering a run to fill the vacancy in the 7th Congressional District created by Julia Carson’s death are all silent during this period of mourning.

Bart Peterson is not.

Peterson ruled out a 7th District candidacy in an interview with News 8’s Eric Halvorson today.  “That’s not something I wanna do,” said the outgoing Mayor, “That’s not a job I’ve had a real strong passion to do.”

Peterson added that no one could ever twist his arm to get him to run for the office.  You can catch his comments tonight on 24 Hour News 8 at 11.