Most speculation has indicated that both Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill are the current frontrunners to take Evan Bayh’s place. I have compiled a list of the bench we have in both districts. I am from the ninth and know much more about it than I do about the eighth. If I left off any potential candidates please let me know.
8th
Of course the best candidate, Jon Weinzapfel, has already ruled the bid out. That really sucks, because he would sail through the election. However I suppose he wants to be Governor. Like I previously stated I don’t know a whole lot about the 8th but I did my best.
*Bob Deig- State senator from Evansville since 2006. He has a strong pro guns and life voting record similar to that of Ellsworth’s,
*Lindel Hume- He is a state senator from Princeton. He has served in the state senate since 1982 and was a member of the state house from 1974 until his election to the senate.
* Dale Grubb – He is a state representative that has served since 1988 and is currently Democratic Caucus Chair.
*Dennis Avery- He is a state rep from Evansville who has served since 1974.
*Trent Van Haaften- He is a state rep from Evansville, who is also a well respected lawyer that could possibly self finance.
* Anne Slaughter Andrew, Ambassador to Costa Rica, and wife of former the former DNC chair.
9th
The 9th is one that will probably be gerrymandered to death after the census, so this is more than likely Hill’s last term. So if we lose his district it is not the end of the world. Now as the district stands it is my view that neither Hill or Sodrel have ever been liked by the voters, so having a fresh democrat to take on Sodrel wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
*Doug England- Mayor of New Albany who I think would have the ability to self finance.
*Vi Simpson- She is the current Minority leader of the state senate from Bloomington. She is currently sitting on about $250,000. She is a known liberal, but she could still win.
*Mark Kruzman- He is the current mayor of Bloomington, and former state house majority leader.
*Paul Young- State Senator who was briefly a candidate for Governor last year, although he is up for re-election and might not want to risk it.
*Paul Robertson- The State house majority whip who has served in the house since 1978. He is an old teacher of mine. He is well loved in Harrison County, by both democrats and republicans.
*Theodore “Buck” Mathis- Well this one is me being kinda stupid, but I will put it anyway. Buck is the Harrison county commissioner who is about as good ol’ boy democrat as they come. He always wears overalls, has a large beard and drives a 30 year old truck. He is a farmer, and EVERYONE in Harrison, Crawford, and Floyd County knows who he is. The down side to a Buck candidacy is that he would not be able to self finance, and he probably doesn’t own a suite, and I am 100% serious on that one.
*Connie Sipes- State Senator from New Albany, who is retiring this year anyways. She is a former high school principal, and she is very popular in Floyd County.
*Gordan Ingle- He is a Corydon Indiana attorney who is loaded and well connected. If you want someone to self finance then he is your guy.
*John Mellencamp- This is just a pipe dream I thought up, but Mellencamp is an Indiana legend who is still living in Indiana. You can see him at IU games all of the time. I believe he owns property both in Seymour and Bloomington. There is NO WAY Mellencamp would lose, although there is also probably no way he would run either.
I will try to add more names if I think of them, and if you want to give me some ideas as well it would be great. I know my list in the eighth is especially weak.
I am not sure which district would be easier to defend, although neither will be a cake walk I promise you. What district do you think we have a better shot at?
Update
As GOPVOTER has pointed out, Hill has some non credible primary opposition. If Hill did run then I think someone would be able to run a write in campaign for the nomination.
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and during a commercial break I went to see what Hannity was up to. Apparently, he devoted an entire (albeit short) segment to bashing Mellencamp for his endorsement of Edwards. Not that this matters at all, but I thought it was interesting that conservatives are at least wary enough of his candidacy to make a point about it. I doubt he jumps in, but it’s still interesting.
Great run-through, by the way. I’ve learned so much about Indiana politics just over the past few days.
Why limit our pipe-dreams to a mere US House seat when he’d be even more welcome as a Senate candidate. A hell of a lot more progressive than Evan Bayh (to say nothing of better able to carry a tune).
In my dream Senate, we’d see Senator John Mellencamp of Indiana, Senator Bruce Springsteen of New Jersey, Senator Melissa Etheridge of Kansas, Senator George Clooney of Kentucky, Senator Garth Brooks of Oklahoma, Senator Oprah Winfrey of Illinois, and Senator Margaret Cho from California.
They’d all be extremely welcome improvements to the US Senate.
God I hope Dems pick Hill! He has 3 nobody primary opponents, so they could not pick a replacement to him. The winner of the GOP primary would be the winner of the general election. Plus, Hill is a much weaker candidate than Ellsworth.
On the subject of the Senate seat, Jim Schellinger has expressed interest. I can’t imagine they would pick him unless Ellsworth, Hill, AND Donnelly all say no.
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/ey…
On the plus side, he could run as a non-Washington insider. I wouldn’t rule out him beating Coats or Hostettler. BUT, I imagine he would be the underdog.