Posted on 05/09/2015 6:13:40 AM PDT by cotton1706
Rep. Marlin Stutzman will announce an Indiana Senate bid Saturday, according to multiple sources with knowledge of his plans, making him the second Republican to join the open-seat race.
Democrats are hoping Stutzman’s entrance into the contest will produce a bloody Republican primary that could endanger the GOP’s chances at holding on to retiring Sen. Dan Coats’ seat.
Stutzman joins Eric Holcomb, a former Coats chief of staff, in the primary field. Reps. Todd Young and Todd Rokita also are mulling the race.
Stutzman is a favorite of the conservative Club for Growth, while Holcomb, a former chairman of the Indiana Republican Party, is a more business-friendly candidate. Indiana Republicans say Young, who also is actively considering the race but has yet to make a final decision, can appeal to both camps.
Rokita has said publicly he is weighing a run, but multiple GOP operatives say he is likely more interested in running for governor down the road.
Still, in a potential three-way race, Democrats say Stutzman could push the field to the right, potentially causing the eventual nominee problems in a general election match-up.
“We’re confident that no matter who runs on our side it’s a close race,” said Justin Barasky, communications director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “And they have the potential to have a messy primary and make things more difficult for themselves.”
(Excerpt) Read more at atr.rollcall.com ...
Interesting. Thanks for posting.
DEPOPULATE socialists from the body politic.
Indiana has had a large influx of immigrants recently.
Marlin’s a good man. If he would have had two more weeks in 2010 he would have beat Coats in the primary.
He is a quiet, honest fighter with both compassion and principles. In short, he is nothing like Mourdock.
“We’re confident that no matter who runs on our side it’s a close race,” said Justin Barasky, communications director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
This is Indiana for goodness sake. There was a day when this election would not have even been close.
Just because a poltical operative says it is going to be a close race does not make it so. What is the real history of state wide races in Indiana.
Indiana has one Republican and one Democrat senator, 7 Repbulican and 2 Democrat house members, a Republican governor and the Republicans control both houses of the legislature. The dems controlled the house from 2007 to 2010. Cook Political report says the seat is likley Republican.
Indiana has had a large influx of immigrants recently.
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Well, I’m not sure that that is the reason for the DemocRATS making races competitive in IN. I’d venture to say that 99.9 percent of Mexican immigrants do NOT vote. They are extremely afraid of being traced and deported by ICE. I just think our culture is changing at a very rapid pace with people wanting more abortions, same-sex marriages and Welfare.
That’s true. I should have said transplants from Illinois I’ve noticed, at least close to me. But we do have an uptick in immigrants, too.
I figured the Dems would try to get Pretty Boy back, they don’t have much of a bench in Indiana.
Cumulative Estimates of the Components of Population Change April 2010 to July 2014 Indiana
Total Population Change 112,663
Natural Increase 107,197
Births 353,871
Deaths 246,674
Total (Net) 8,366
International 41,995
Domestic -33,629
2013 to 2014
Total Population Change 26,142
Natural Increase 24,994
Births 83,206
Deaths 58,212
Total (Net) 2,623
International 10,472
Domestic -7,849
The Census Bureau data does show an increase in international migration to Indiana, both cumulatively since 2010 and last year. The data also shows domestic out migration for both periods (note, that would include foreigners who move to another state).
Stutzman should be the strong favorite in both the primary and the general.
Stutzman should’ve been running for his second term in the Senate now. Coats had no business mounting a comeback nobody but the establishment wanted (and a minority of the primary voters), a total waste of 6 years.
I blame that douche Hostettler for splitting the conservative vote. Coats won with under 40%.
One reason why Indiana (like Tennessee) needs runoffs. Coats could’ve been stopped cold in 2010 and Dan Burton, who was clearly past his prime (or at least seriously losing interest in his job) could’ve been put out earlier.
I’m wondering now who’s going to run to take out Sen. Donnelly in 2018. With Pence as damaged goods, I can’t see him being a strong candidate (presuming he gets past John Gregg in a rematch he didn’t exactly win handily the first time when he was far more popular). In fact, as it stands, the IN GOP might be better off running someone else for Governor next year (AG Greg Zoeller, perhaps ?).
As for Hostettler, if he wanted back in Congress, he should’ve run for his old House seat in 2010. The guy in it at present (Larry Bucshon) is an establishment creature, although other than for Kristi Risk in the primary, he’s won by landslide margins in the ‘8th (unlike Hostettler).
You’d go so far as to call Pence “damaged goods”, because of the flap over that religious law and his poor handling of it?
He did something good the other day, signed a bill taking power away from the rat School’s Superintendent.
Also signed a bill allowing needle exchanges in areas with AIDS outbreaks among heroin junkies.......not so good.
The left seems out to lynch him, the Indy Star suggests “saves” his career by doing whatever Black democrats want him to do. I think he should still win reelection.
Hostettler is a joke, he doesn’t get a comeback after getting curbstomped out of his House seat (and he never one by much) due to his failings as a candidate. He’s one of those geniuses that doesn’t like raising campaign cash.
“and he never one by much”
WON, I mean.
That “gay bill” or whatever the name of it was was a key test of leadership mettle and he failed, and appearance-wise, it harmed him with both the haters and supporters. You can afford to piss off the people that despise you, they didn’t elect you, but you can’t with supporters. In fact that ONE thing all but eliminated him from contention for President.
He may rebound from it, but the damage is there at present.
RE: The school superintendent, either the legislature should switch it to their electing said person or have the Governor appoint them (upsides and downsides to both). TN doesn’t have such an elective position (I don’t believe IL does, either). It seems to make more sense they’d be appointed by the Governor since they would be serving them and reporting to them. With Ritz, you have an openly hostile puppet of the teacher labor unions.
“This is Indiana for goodness sake. There was a day when this election would not have even been close.”
Hmmmm...... I just had it on my brain that Indiana, historically, was Republican/Conservative. It seems to me they went for the GOP candidate for POTUS rather consistently until Obama came along in 2008.
Just read this on another thread:
“Indiana strayed once for Obama in 2008, but otherwise has been won by Republicans in the other five most recent Presidential elections.”
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