Jamison Carrier's campaign is attracting national attention and was recently backed by Vivek Ramaswamy
Indiana dad who lost young son to fentanyl running for Congress to end tragedies stemming from border crisis
An Indiana father who lost a young son to a fentanyl overdose is running for Congress to end tragedies like the one that befell his family, which he blames squarely on the border crisis worsening under President Biden.
An Indiana father who lost his youngest son to a fentanyl overdose is running for Congress to end tragedies like the one that befell his family, which he blames squarely on the border crisis worsening under President Biden.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Jamison Carrier, a local businessman who has never held elected office, described himself as "as much of an outsider as you could possibly be," and expressed his motivation to address the crisis that he says way too many families across the country have been forced to face.
"It will be two years ago, April 15th, that we lost Joey," Carrier told Fox. "Over 300 Americans are dying every day from fentanyl poisoning. If a jetliner was going down every day, we would stop everything and get it fixed. Unfortunately, we haven't seen that sense of urgency with this, and that's why I'm running."
Indiana businessman and Republican congressional candidate Jason Carrier stands alongside his wife. (Jamison Carrier)
Carrier tossed his hat into the race for Indiana's 6th Congressional District earlier this year after Republican Rep. Greg Pence, the brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, announced that he would not seek re-election. The seat is considered solidly Republican, with most of the competition expected in the GOP primary May 7.
Though he faces a crowded primary field, Carrier views his campaign as running more for the policies and issues that people in the district care about, rather than running against anybody in particular.
He described his top policy priority — the border and its subsequent negative impacts on American society — as a "targeted attack from China," and said it was "unfathomable" that more had not been done by the federal government to put a stop to it.
"Since Biden has been in office, there have been more people that we've documented that have crossed illegally than the entire population of the state of Indiana. So why we would allow that, I have no idea," Carrier said, describing it as "unsustainable," and expressing his support for controlled legal immigration.
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Jamison Carrier's son Joey, whom he tragically lost to a fentanyl overdose, stands next to his mom. (Jamison Carrier)
"We don't know who's coming across that border, but we know fentanyl is, and it's a target from the Chinese. Traveling across the district, just about every person that we talked to has been affected in some way by Biden's border crisis. It's China poisoning our children, and it's got real life consequences for families, not just in our district, but across the nation," he said.
Carrier detailed his son's struggles with addiction, telling Fox that he and his family decided years ago they weren't going to try and hide it from the outside world, because other families were dealing with the same thing, and sweeping it under the rug wasn't the way to find a solution.
He said his son wasn't "a partier," but instead used drugs as a way to "cope with life."
"While you or I might grab a bag of chips because we've had a bad day, he went to the far extreme," Carrier said. "Joey didn't use every day. . . . But when he used, it hit him hard."
Bundles of blue pills containing fentanyl intercepted at the border. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection )
"We're not ashamed of anything about Joey. We're very proud of him. He made a difference in his life here. He lived a very full life. . . . Even though it's a painful part of our life, and we don't want other families to have to go through that, it's something families are experiencing. And so, with knowing that, we want to talk about it, we want to help others, and we don't want him forgotten," he added.
Carrier's candidacy has already attracted attention from national figures, including former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who endorsed him to succeed Pence earlier this week.
When asked about the endorsement, Carrier said he was "grateful," and that the platform Ramaswamy ran on as a presidential candidate resonated with people across the district. He also touted his endorsements from local business leaders and law enforcement officials, citing them as evidence of his campaign's momentum.
Carrier is currently joined in the Republican primary race by six other candidates. The winner will likely become the district's next representative, considering that election analysts rate the race as either "solid" or "safe" Republican.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on X at @BGillespieAL.
