Republican Senator Dan Coats won the seat that year but announced in March 2015 his plans to retire this fall.
Advertisement
“Evan Bayh’s arranged entrance into this race means that Washington Democrats have the candidate they want to continue the failed Obama-Clinton policies of the past eight years”, he said in a statement.
Republican Senate candidate Todd Young’s campaign is attacking former Sen. The article on CNN.com indicates Bayh will make his intentions known on Monday.
Young’s campaign manager issued a statement that said,”This seat isn’t the birthright of a wealthy lobbyist, it belongs to the people of IN”. Thus far his opponents are little-known, but Democrats are considering a Kansas businessman, Greg Orman, who ran for Senate two years ago as an independent, to see if he might make another try this year, according to one Democratic official with knowledge of the deliberations.
Given Bayh’s family legacy and his own popularity, he has a reasonable shot at retaking the seat now, which would mean Democrats would control both Senate seats from IN despite the state typically trending Republican. He was a USA senator from 1999 to 2011 and IN governor from 1989 to 1997.
“I’m very surprised”, Indiana Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, said of the Hill decision and Bayh’s return to the ticket. Bayh first ran for Senate in 1998 when he defeated Republican Paul Helmke. “In accordance with IN law, I have filed the necessary paperwork to withdraw from the race”. That would not be fair to my party or my state.
Hill officially announced his withdrawal Monday morning in an email to supporters that did not mention Bayh.
Bayh is easily the most popular Democrat in the state. That’s how I have run each of my races before, and that’s what I have done throughout my time in public service – from the Indiana General Assembly to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Indiana Democratic Party has until August 10 to hold a caucus to formally replace Hill on the ballot. Young reportedly has around $1 million on hand. “But the Bayh name has a pedigree for older Hoosiers that goes way back”.
Advertisement
Hill said he’s dropping out because he doesn’t want to stand in the way of his party winning the open seat. Marco Rubio reversed course and said he would run for re-election, despite having complained openly about his frustration with the Senate. “I guess winning in the primary doesn’t mean as much as expediency and opportunity”. “This should have an impact on governor, Congress, and even some of the legislative races”. If Trump selects Pence this week, it could set off a scramble among several top Indiana Republicans to take Pence’s spot on the ballot, which might in turn affect congressional or state legislative races.
