Coats chickened out of reelection in 1998, essesntially handing the seat to Evan Bayh. It’s ironic that the sudeen candidacy of Coats was one of the reasons that Bayh suddenly dropped out of the race this year.
Coats only won 39% in the primary, with Stutzman winning 30% and Hostettler winning 22%. Hostettler should have dropped out.
Here are some other Indiana primary results. Mike Sodrel was badly beaten in the Republican primary.
http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/05/in_coats_burton.php
There was a a VA Republican named ____ who chickened out in 1988 just like Coats did in 1998. And we got Charles Robb and Evan Bayh.
Sodrel came in third in a close 3-way race.
I guess you better take that spotlight on Sodrel off the website Intercept Point. ;d Egg on my face for thinking Sodrel was a primary lock. Guess the voters were sick of him.
Polls had him beating Hill. I hope Todd Young is able to prevail in November.
Too bad Burton and Souder won renomination (though I forget what Burton has done wrong).
And it’s too bad Stutzman didn’t win the Senatorial nomination. But better Coats than the unfunded Hostetler. Hostetler was the first in I believe, while Bayh was still running, so he deserves props for that, but he should left the race.
The media is already spinning the typical low primary turnout as a Tea Party failure, even though the establishment candidate won with a minority of the vote.
Another chicken, Todd Rokita easily won his house primary.