Todd just won the GOP primary in Indiana’s 9th District, beating out early frontrunner Mike Sodrel. He’s facing Baron Hill, who of course is best known for thinking that his first name is also his title. Cook rated this race as Toss-Up: interestingly, total GOP participation exceeded total Democratic participation in the primary, which was contested on both sides.
Todd’s site is here.
Moe Lane
Crossposted to RedState.
Jackie has just [won] the primary for Indiana’s 2nd District: she’ll be facing incumbent Joe Donnelly, who was part of the 2006 Red to Blue sweep. While Cook rates this district as currently Likely Democratic, Republican primary participation in this district was almost double that of the Democrats‘; Jackie actually got more votes in the primary than Donnelly did.
Jackie’s website is here.
Moe Lane
Crossposted to RedState.
Which most people reading this already knew: but it’s now the Democrats’ turn to learn that. I don’t think that they’ll enjoy the lesson:
Within hours of Indiana Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh’s retirement announcement last week, establishment Democrats in Indiana and Washington were signaling that Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.) was their preferred favorite to succeed him. And by Friday, the last day to file for office, Ellsworth had announced his intention to run for the Senate seat.
It had all the makings of a neatly wrapped package, with just one exception: Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.) hadn’t signed off on the succession plan.
Now Hill is suggesting he’s seriously weighing a campaign — and other candidates are making calls to committee members to feel out support — and the process of choosing a Democratic Senate nominee could prove to be a lot messier than originally anticipated.
I was pleased to hear that Senator Evan Bayh had decided to not run for re-election; it meant that we’d pick up a Senate seat. I was also pleased to hear that Rep. Brad Ellsworth had decided to go for the seat; it meant that we’d pick up a Senate and a House seat. But if Baron Hill ends up being the nominee, then Bayh’s sudden retirement will mean that we will pick up a Senate and two House seats: the Democrats can’t make their Senate pick until after the primary and they’ve already picked the sacrificial victim for IN-08. And the progressive base doesn’t really like Ellsworth, anyway (NSFW language).
Some day I hope to hear just what the Obama administration specifically did to Evan Bayh, to fuel this revenge.
Moe Lane
Crossposted to RedState.
Pretty please, with sugar on top – and that’s a request that would be echoed by probably every conservative/Republican activist in Indiana.
You see, as it stands Baron Hill is doing so badly in IN-09 against Mike Sodrel that it seems almost almost wasteful. But having him do a Melancon and switch from a House race that he’s going to lose over to a Senate race that he’s going to lose? That will have the happy effect of preserving the line of attack that the GOP’s already preparing and helping us with all the other statewide/Federal races, too. To put it another way: there are many Indiana Republicans out there who were disappointed that they had no way to vote against Baron Hill. If he becomes the Democratic candidate for Senate, it’ll be like the sun coming out for them.
So please. Try to get that nomination, Hill.
Please.
Moe Lane
The one he’s not going to be needing anymore?
Somehow I suspect that not much of it is going to find its way to the DSCC.
Via Hot Air.
Moe Lane
“That would be one more than Congress has created in the last six months.” Wow, thanks! That’s going to be great for our campaign ads this fall, Senator. We can pretty much use that one everywhere.
Crossposted to RedState.
If you were reading Hotline On Call exclusively, you’d think that Indiana Democrats were going to have to pick a candidate to replace Evan Bayh on the ballot:
Candidates running for statewide office in IN have to collect 500 signatures from each of the state’s 9 districts. Those signatures are due by tomorrow.
Once signatures are in, candidates have until Friday to officially file for office.
Bayh could still file to run, then drop out. But if he does not file his signatures tomorrow, no other Dem is expected to collect the required [4,500] signatures by then, meaning Dems will get the chance to pick their own nominee.
Not… quite.
Continue reading An Inconvenient Democrat: meet Tamyra d’Ippolito (IN).
…and that +4 is me being nice and assuming that the Democrats will take two of the open R seats (they won’t) and keep two of Cook’s Democrat Tossup seats (they won’t do that, either). One of each sounds more likely, making the final total at least +6… and if we run the table at +8 it’s a 51/49 Senate.
By the way: that’s not the worst-case scenario. That’s a scenario that assumes that Senators Boxer, Feingold, Gillibrand, & Schumer don’t do anything stupid. Or Candidate Blumenthal.
Snickering based on this latest Cook Political Report survey.
Moe Lane
PS: Sen. Bayh really handled this retirement announcement… poorly. And what is Bayh going to do with that 13 million war chest, anyway?
Crossposted to RedState.
It is not your job description.
Check out (via the Campaign Spot) this amazingly fatheaded – and more amusingly, techno-illiterate – posturing by Democratic Congressman Baron Hill:
See also Hoosierpundit, who’s also covering this district pretty thoroughly, it looks like.
Continue reading ‘Baron’ is merely your *name*, Rep. Hill (D, IN-09).
[UPDATE] And welcome, Instapundit readers. What I said below, and I suspect that a few of you may find this upcoming bit of DVD news of interest.
[UPDATE] Welcome, Hot Air readers. And may I say that there’s a part of me that hopes that Pelosi tries to quash this? It’s a lovely time of year for a gutter war.
I was tempted to go with the headline “FEDS RAID VISCLOSKY!” solely to give some of our lurkers acute acid reflux, but really: this is quite good on its own:
Feds subpoena Rep. Visclosky’s offices
Federal law enforcement officials have subpoenaed the congressional and campaign offices of Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) to get information about a former defense lobby firm raided by the FBI, according to Visclosky.
Certain Visclosky employees have also been sent grand jury subpoenas requesting documents related to the PMA Group, a lobby shop with strong ties to the Indiana lawmaker. Visclosky’s former chief of staff, Rich Kaelin, was a high-profile lobbyist at the firm that closed its doors at the end of March.
Continue reading BREAKING: Feds subpoenaing Visclosky’s office. [UPDATED]
