IN-Sen: Bayh Will Retire

Unbelievable:

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) will not seek a 3rd term in the Senate next year, according to a Dem source, handing Dems yet another setback as they struggle to salvage their damaged ship.

Bayh, elected statewide 5 times, will become the 5th Senate Dem not to seek another term. His decision to step aside , first reported by The Fix and confirmed to Hotline OnCall, creates an open seat in IN, a usually-red state that broke the mold in ’08 by voting narrowly for Pres. Obama. […]

Update: The filing deadline is tomorrow, not Friday, as we wrote earlier. Dem sources say Ellsworth is the candidate most likely to jump into the contest.

UPDATE: What a wiener:

“Two weeks ago, the Senate voted down a bipartisan commission to deal with one of the greatest threats facing our nation: our exploding deficits and debt. The measure would have passed, but seven members who had endorsed the idea instead voted ‘no’ for short-term political reasons,” he said. “Just last week, a major piece of legislation to create jobs – the public’s top priority – fell apart amid complaints from both the left and right. All of this and much more has led me to believe that there are better ways to serve my fellow citizens, my beloved state4 and our nation than continued service in Congress.”

Bayh needs to fork over all $13 million of his war chest over to the DSCC, stat.

UPDATE: With the filing deadline tomorrow, Democrats must submit 500 signatures per CD for their replacement candidate to qualify for the ballot. Not sure how Dems can swing this, or if there are any loopholes they can exploit to get someone else on the ballot.

LATER UPDATE: Just to clear up a bit of confusion — if you check out page 16 of this PDF, you’ll see that candidates first have to file a declaration of candidacy. The deadline to do that is tomorrow. Having done that, the candidate has to file their petitions by the 19th.

REPLACEMENT UPDATE: So here’s the deal: if no candidate files, the Indiana Democratic Party will get to select a replacement for Bayh by committee. However, Bayh does have a Democratic challenger right now: Tamyra d’Ippolito. Democrats are hoping that she won’t be able to gather enough signatures in time in order to make the ballot.

186 thoughts on “IN-Sen: Bayh Will Retire”

  1. seat would have been fu$%ing safe if he choose to run for re-election but no, he was too afraid and lazy of even trying to run. People like him, Beau Biden, and others made me sick. WTF is Emanuel doing???  

  3. About a lucky man who made the grade

    And though the news was rather sad

    Well, I just had to laugh

    Seriously though, what a goddamn coward. Not a hundredth of a man his father is/was.  

  5. I don’t understand why Bayh would step down, he was still favored to hold the seat against Coates or any other Republican. Either he not motivated enough for a real campaign   or was looking for an exit anyway. The Senate will lose a good man, and I am speaking as someone leaning Republican.  

  7. As long as Ellsworth jumps in, he’ll be a strong candidate. The Repubs currently running are pretty weak. The Coats roll-out has been a disaster. And the looming filing deadline makes it hard for the Repubs to get another candidate in the race.

  8. If the incumbent decides to drop out without giving notice at least two weeks before the election, the filing deadline is automatically extended for three days for that race.  

    They are allowed to file that statement and then change their mind and run anyway, but this law at least minimizes the chances of stuff like this happening.  One loophole is that it wouldn’t prevent what Rodney Alexander did in 2004–where he switched parties at the last minute.  Wisconsin State Rep. Jeff Wood switched parties from Republican to Independent on filing day and the GOP had to do a write-in campaign.  

    I wonder if anyone is even going to run in Ellsworth’s seat now, or if they will just punt until 2012.  

  9. to make things worse, but there is 7 inches of snow on the ground with more expected right now in the 9th, Baron Hill will be filing for re-election by mail for the first time do to the bad weather. So that makes collecting signatures even more fun. I HATE EVAN BAYH!!!!  

  10. In addition to being a douche during your tenure as a Senator, now you pack up days before the filing deadline!  I can’t believe anyone would have ever thought you should be president or vice-president.  Anyone other than yourself and maybe your wife.

    Good riddance.

  11. No other word for it.  His dad ran against giants.  He took a Republican institution in the long serving Homer Capehart.  He ran against Luger the most popular man ever in Indiana.  He ran against William Ruckelshaus who you may remember for the Saturday Night Massacre.  He was a David who stood up for hwat he believed in and slayed giants.

    Evan runs away when for the first time since he originally ran for Governor he faces a non-token but still far from dazzling retreat that he already beat once.

    And waiting until just before the filing deadline?  That’s hubris of a man who views himself as “indispensible.”  He wants to show the world that only his magnificent self could win by undermining whoever might want to run in his stead.  And with the file deadline so close.  Here’s a thought.  Even if you get Brad Ellsworth to run.  Who runs for Brad’s seat?

    A final kick in the shins from a spineless politician who rolled over for Bush or whoever else questioned his manhood.

    You actually did have a shot at becoming President.  That is now over.  Enjoy retirement with Blanche Lincoln and Harry Reid.

  12. bet he runs for Governor in 2012. I remember at the state convention he told us that his favorite job was being Governor, and that being a Senator is nice, but he will always be a Governor at heart. I may just support Becky Skillman if he is our nominee.

  13. not tomorrow – not sure where you got that impression

    Easier to gather signatures in 4 days than in 1, but still a challenge.

  14. was all set to file his paperwork for reelection too!

    A Democratic aide said that Bayh must have made a last-minute personal decision not to run, noting that he had completed his candidacy paperwork, was polling well ahead of Coats and had $13 million in his campaign account.

    Maybe he got wind of some lobbyist scandal that would hit him pretty soon so he decided to get out of the way before it did. Or maybe the NRSC recruited Mitch Daniels knowing Dan Coats was damaged goods. Same thing probably happened in North Dakota. Dorgan got advance word from Hoeven that he was about to jump in so Dorgan retired ahead of time.

  16. Bayh is so bipartisan that he wants to hand the seat to the GOP.

    This is certainly surprising, but I think if Ellsworth gets in we have a solid shot. I just wish Visclosky didn’t have the corruption thing over his head as his seat in the House would have been infinitely easier to defend.

    And I don’t think Pence is willing to give up his coveted leadership position in the House to be a back-bencher in the Senate.

  18. Disclaimer: This is the opinion of a Republican, so take with whatever amount of salt you choose.

    I personally think that with the current environment, no other candidate for the Democrats have good chance.  My gut reaction is to rate this as somewhere between Lean GOP and Likely GOP, depending on how it shakes out.

  19. Jonathan Weinzapfel – Mayor of Evansville(2003 – present)

    Tim Roemer – U.S. Representative, 1991 – 2003; member of 9/11 Commission; dark-horse 2008 Veep possibility; current Ambassador to India

    Lee Hamilton – U.S. Representative, 1965 – 1999; member of 9/11 Commission; 1992 Veep finalist; Obama Homeland Security advisor

    Joe Kernan – Mayor of South Bend (1987 – 1997), Lt. Gov. of Indiana (1997 – 2003), Gov. of Indiana (2003 – 2005);

    Joe Hogsett – Secy. of State of Indiana (1987 – 1995)

    Jill L. Thompson – U.S. Representative, 1989 – 1995; Bill Clinton agricultural advisor; failed candidate for Senate, 1986; failed candidate for House, 2002; failed candidate for Governor, 2008

  21. http://politics.theatlantic.co…

    It’s possible that Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), who looks quite vulnerable, will follow suit. It’s also reasonable that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) might decide to caucus with Republicans; if those seats are lost, Democrats would see their Senate majority shrink to a very thin margin after 2010.

    Lincoln should follow Bayh and retire so we can field Bill Halter who doesn’t have the taint of DC and the douchiness that Blanche had. And Lieberman should go caucus with his BFF’s Collins, Graham, and McCain, easier to defeat him in 2012 if he can’t masquerade as a “Independent” Democrat.

  23. He bitches about his debt commission, so he threatens to quit days before the filing deadline, leaving Democrats without much of a candidate.  Anyone wonder if he’s hoping Democrats will beg for him to stay and will give in on the debt commission?  Sounds like something a ConDem would do.

  27. What are the ballot replacement provisions? IE if Evan Bayh were to drop out or somehow become ineligible.  Are there provision for either his campaign committee or someone else to replace him?

    Basically is it possible for us to use Evan’s signatures to run someone else?

  30. Even if d’Ippolito gets it done, there’s a good chance that someone will challenge enough signatures to make her candidacy  invalid. And on the off-chance that doesn’t happen, Ellsworth or someone can just run a write-in.

  31. He can never be president now.

    Even if he is planning to run for governor again, he’s just made so many enemies within and without the establishment that he’ll never get a presidential nomination.

    I hope.

  32. I’m very disappointed with Evan Bayh and his timing for such a decision.  It really sucks for us in finding a credible candidate in such a short period of time.  I’m not happy about this at all.  This was my first reaction.

    My second reaction is that Bayh and any politician can really do whatever the hell they want to do, no matter how self-centered the decision might me.  I sure as hell don’t like the decision, but it is Bayh’s decision, not my own.  If he didn’t want to run, then we are best not to have him run instead of running a crappy campaign that will cost us millions only to lose.

    My third reaction is that we need to find a gutsy candidate who is currently holding office to win the senate seat.  I hope we can recruit Ellsworth, Donnelly, or Hill.  Ellsworth may be the strongest of the three, but Hill may be the answer.  Hill’s got a chance of losing the 9th, but he may be the answer in a statewide election.  He’s as strong as Coats/Hostetler, plus he has some conservative appeal to the rural Democrats.  That being said, I’d prefer Ellsworth as our candidate.  

  35. moved it to leans republican. I think that was a little rash, I mean, I could understand moving it to a tossup but leans R seams a bit drastic given the republican lineup.

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