INDIANAPOLIS (AP):

The grandson of the late US Rep Julia Carson won a special election to succeed her, keeping the seat in Democratic hands and becoming the second Muslim ever elected to Congress.

Andre Carson had about 54 per cent of the vote compared with about 43 per cent for Republican Jon Elrod after all the votes were tallied. Carson finished with a 9,000-vote edge out of nearly 85,000 votes cast.

Carson will represent a district that covers most of Indianapolis for the remainder of the year. In a primary in May, he will seek to be the Democratic nominee for a full two-year term.

In his victory speech, Carson told more than 100 supporters gathered at a downtown Indianapolis hotel that he would have to ''hit the ground running". One of his top priorities, he said, would be ending the war in Iraq.