Carlson, Elmer T.

Elmer Carlson was a farmer, agribusiness man and Democratic Party activist from Audubon, Iowa. In 1935 he won the National Corn-husking Championship in Indiana. He was a delegate to the 1952 and 1964 Democratic National Conventions, events he attended with a mule in order to call attention to Iowa's delegates. Carlson established a profitable hybrid seed corn company and at one time owned 1800 acres of land. He was enthusiastic about the election of Jimmy Carter because the U.S. president was a farmer. Carlson was not invited to any of the official inaugural events or parties so he arranged three extravagant, unofficial dances and parties on the nights of Jan. 18, 19, and 20, 1977 for the Iowa farmers who were in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately these parties resulted in substantial financial losses.