John Carlsen (D-IN)

John E · February 25

Senator John Carlson, Democrat, Indiana

Name: John Carlsen

Seat: Indiana, Class One

Party: Democratic

Faction: Blue Dog Coalition

Gender: Male (0)

Age: 48 (5 points)

Sexuality: Straight, married with 2 children (-5 points)

Race: White (0)

Religion: Mainline Protestant (0)

Education: B.A. (History and Political Science), Notre Dame University (5 points)

Family History: Upper Class (-5)

Career Information: Commissioned Military (10)(highest rank achieved = Captain); Business Executive (20)

Political Experience: First Senate term, elected in 2012; Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (3 terms, 9 points)

Awards and Extras:

Total Points: 39 points

John Carlsen was born to Jim and Shirley Carlsen in South Bend, Indiana, on February 4, 1968. Jim owned and ran a chain of restaurants in Indiana and Ohio, while Shirley served as the chain's chief financial officer. Thus, John grew up in privileged circumstances. He played lacrosse in high school (private) and received both his Bachelors (History and Poli Sci) from Notre Dame, graduating in 1990. While Carlsen is a Protestant, he was fine with studying in a "Catholic" atmosphere and having discussions about faith with his Catholic classmates. During his time at Notre Dame, Carlsen belonged to the ROTC (Army) and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant upon graduation.

Carlsen was deployed to South Korea which was uneventful in spite of the menacing presence of North Korea just a few kilometers away. He would later describe the situation in Korea as "surreal." His time in South Korea gave Carlsen the chance to hone his leadership skills, and within a few years he served as a company commander. He returned stateside after four years, and stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He elected to remain in the Army after his four-year obligation concluded.

Everything changed as a result of 9/11. Carlsen, promoted to Major, was deployed to the Middle East and participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom, leading his battalion in the invasion and in the aftermath. While he believed in America's mission there, he became disenchanted with the poorly thought-out strategy of the US and allied occupation forces. He voiced concern to his superiors that the U.S. did not have sufficient forces in Iraq to successfully maintain order after dismantling the entire Iraqi security apparatus, or in Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

In 2004, Carlsen was ready to go on the active reserve list. He returned home to Indiana and settled into a pleasant routine of working for his family's business, which also gave him the opportunity to establish valuable connections in community affairs. By then he was also becoming disillusioned with the continuing failure to establish a lasting peace in Iraq, and the lack of success in apprehending (or killing) Osama bin Laden. He felt called to run for higher office.

His family connections and those he established personally proved helpful. He surprised some people by declaring as a Democrat, given his strong pro-life convictions, but explained his motivation in seeking "change." He ran as a combat veteran and independent voice, someone not involved in the partisan political battles of the time. He also ran as someone who supported the war but now questioned how it was being run, and even implicitly criticized the invasion of Iraq as it may have distracted America's attention from the conflict in Afghanistan and the continuing hunt for Osama bin Laden.

In 2006, a blue wave year, Carlsen was elected to serve Congress in the politically marginal second district of Indiana. He was easily re-elected in 2008 as Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win Indiana since 1964. And while 2010 was a hard year for Democrats, Carlsen's moderate voting record and independent image helped him stave off defeat.

In late 2010, Osama bin Laden was finally brought to a rough justice by the men of SEAL Team Six. Carlsen felt like the primary goal of the War on Terror was finally met, and it happened under President Obama. In 2012, he decided to seek election to the U.S. Senate from Indiana. He again ran as a combat veteran and relatively moderate Democrat, although also a proud supporter of President Obama's leadership. Carlsen would have been a decided underdog against long-time and highly respected incumbent Richard Lugar. However, Lugar lost his own primary badly to State Treasurer Richard Mourdock. Mourdock ran a poor campaign in general, including making a gaffe on pregnancy resulting from rape. While Carlsen was pro-life, he remained relatively quiet on abortion and allowed the media to focus on Mourdock's trouble with words. In the end, Carlsen won a relatively comfortable victory in the election, running well ahead of Obama who lost the state to Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

Like another long-serving Indiana Democrat, Evan Bayh, Carlsen is a moderate Democrat, but more conservative than Bayh on social issues (while being quite cautious not to upset either his liberal base or moderate to conservative crossover voters) while being more progressive on economic issues. He stresses reforms of the political system and is a self-described deficit hawk.

Carlsen is married to his college sweetheart, Hannah, and they have two children: Sophie and Will.

KEY VOTES:

110th Congress 2007-2009

Democrats: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 AYE

111th Congress 2009-2011

Democrats: Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 AYE

112th Congress 2011-2013

Democrats: United States–Colombia Free Trade Agreement: AYE

113th Congress 2013-2015

Both: Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization: AYE

Both: Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013: AYE

114th Congress 2015-2017

Both: Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015: AYE

Edited February 26 by John E