The 2010 congressional elections in Indiana were held on November 2, 2010, to determine who would represent the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the 112th Congress from January 2011 until January 2013, except for the winner of the 3rd District's special election, who will serve the few remaining weeks of the

111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...

. Indiana has nine seats in the House, apportioned according to the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

Overview

By district

Results of the 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana by district:

Congressional districts

District 1

Democrat

Pete Visclosky Peter John Visclosky ( ; born August 13, 1949) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1985 until his retirement in 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was the dean of the Indiana congressional d ...

has represented this district since 1985. The PVI is D+8. He faced Republican activist Mark Leyva and

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

candidate Jon Morris. Visclosky was endorsed by the ''Northwest Indiana Times'' and the ''

Indianapolis Star Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

''.

2010

District 2

Democrat

Joe Donnelly Joseph Simon Donnelly Sr. (born September 29, 1955) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 2013 to 2019. Since 2022, he has served as the United States Ambassador to the Holy Se ...

has represented this district since 2007 and ran for reelection. He was challenged by Republican nominee

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

Jackie Walorski Jacqueline Renae Walorski (, August 17, 1963 – August 3, 2022) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Indiana's 2nd congressional district from 2013 until her death in 2022. She was a member of the Republican Pa ...

, whom he defeated. Obama carried this district with 54% of the vote in 2008.
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2010 Indiana - 2nd District
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''
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Polling

2010

District 3

Republican

Mark Souder Mark Edward Souder (July 18, 1950 – September 26, 2022) was an American politician and businessman from Indiana. A Republican, he was a U.S. Representative from 1995 to 2010. During the 1980s and early 1990s, he worked as a congressional ai ...

represented this district from 2003 until his resignation on May 18, 2010. Fellow Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

carried this district with 56% of the vote in the 2008 presidential election. In the Republican primary, car dealer Bob Thomas gave Souder a strong challenge in the primary. An April SurveyUSA poll showed Thomas within six percentage points of Souder. Other Republican candidates included attorney Phil Troyer and Tea Party activist Greg Dickman. Souder won the primary with 48% of the vote. He was to face Democrat Fort Wayne councilman

Tom Hayhurst Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

. However, as Souder announced his resignation from Congress and his resignation as the Republican candidate for Congress on May 18, 2010, the

Governor of Indiana The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the State of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government ...

set a date for a special election to be held concurrently with the general election in November. A caucus was be held to choose the Republican candidate for the special election and the general election. The Republican caucus to choose the nominee was held on June 12, 2010. State Senator

Marlin Stutzman Marlin Andrew Stutzman (born August 31, 1976) is an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Indiana's 3rd congressional district, from 2010 to 2017. A Republican, Stutzman previously served ...

was selected as the Republican nominee for both the special and general elections.

Republican primary polling

2010

District 3 Special

The 2010 special election for will be held November 2, contemporaneously with the regularly scheduled

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. The special election was called to fill the vacancy left by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, who resigned after an affair with a staffer was revealed.

Democratic candidates

* Dr.

, former

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

City Councilor; 2006 and 2010 Democratic nominee.

Republican candidates

Nominee *

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

and former U.S. Senate candidate Lost Nomination * Randy Borror,

* Liz Brown,

City Councilor * Wes Culver, state representative * Phil Troyer, attorney and opponent of Souder in the 2010 primary

=Polling

District 4

Republican Steve Buyer did not run for re-election. McCain carried the district with 56% of the vote.

Todd Rokita Theodore Edward Rokita (born February 9, 1970) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 44th and current Attorney General of Indiana. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from from 2011 to 2019. A memb ...

, the Republican

Secretary of State of Indiana The Secretary of State of Indiana is one of five constitutional officers originally designated in Indiana's State Constitution of 1816. Since 1851, it has been an elected position. The Secretary of State oversees four divisions, and is the third ...

, Republican

Brandt Hershman, Cheryl Denise Allen and Mark Seitz filed to run for Buyer's vacant seat. Rokita won the primary and defeated Democrat David Sanders in the general election.

2010

District 5

Republican

Dan Burton Danny Lee Burton (born June 21, 1938) is an American politician. Burton is the former U.S. Representative for , and previously the , serving from 1983 until 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party and was part of the Tea Party Caucus. Ear ...

has represented this district since 2003. John McCain carried 59% of the vote in 2008. Former Republican candidate Brose McVey,

Indiana Republican Party The Indiana Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in the state of Indiana. The chairman of the Indiana Republican State Committee is Kyle Hupfer. History Republicans dominated Indiana from the 1860s to the 19 ...

Executive Director

Luke Messer Allen Lucas Messer (born February 27, 1969) is an American politician and lobbyist who represented Indiana's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. Born ...

Mike Murphy Michael James Murphy (born 20 October 1941) is an Irish broadcaster, actor and property developer. He is best known for his long broadcasting career with RTÉ, presenting many TV shows such as ''The Live Mike'', '' Winning Streak'' and '' The Bi ...

, and 2008 primary challenger John McGoff all formally announced their intention to run. Burton won the primary with just 30% of the vote. He faced Democrat Tim Crawford in the general election.

Republican primary polling

2010

District 6

Republican

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...

represented this district since 2003. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican nominee McCain carried the district with 52% of the vote. Pence faced Democratic nominee Barry Welsh, a minister, and defeated him to keep his seat.

2010

District 7

Democrat

André Carson André D. Carson (born October 16, 1974) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, his district includes the southern four-fifths of Indianapolis, including Downtown Indianapol ...

has served since 2008. President Obama carried this district with 71% of the vote, considered safe or solid by most sources. He again faced perennial Republican candidate

Marvin Scott Marvin Bailey Scott (born March 10, 1944) is an American politician and university professor in Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and ...

, who took issue with Carson's

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

faith during the general election. However, Carson defeated Scott by a large margin to retain his seat.

2010

District 8

This was an open seat as Democratic incumbent

Brad Ellsworth John Bradley Ellsworth (born September 11, 1958) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2011. In 2010, he was the Democratic candidate for a seat in the United States Senate, but he was defeated by Dan Coats, ...

ran (unsuccessfully) for the U.S. Senate. The Democratic nominee was lawyer and State Representative

Trent Van Haaften William Trent Van Haaften is a Democratic politician from the state of Indiana. He served as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives, representing the 76th District, from 2003 until 2010. He ran, in 2012, for his old seat. Early li ...

. The Republican nominee was

Larry Bucshon Larry Dean Bucshon ( ; born May 31, 1962) is an American politician and physician who has been the U.S. representative for since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Early life, education, and early career Bucshon was born in Taylo ...

, president of Ohio Valley HeartCare.
IN - District 8
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2010 Indiana - 8th District
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'' Bucshon received support from the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and S ...

and was named a

GOP Young Gun The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and ...

. During the campaign, Bucshon was endorsed by several conservative interest groups and elected officials, including the Indiana Chamber of Commerce Congressional Action Committee,

United States Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging ...

National Right to Life Committee The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the oldest and largest national anti-abortion organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide. Since the 1980s, NRLC has influen ...

, Indiana Right to Life, Indiana Manufacturers Association, Campaign for Working Families, House Minority Leader

John Boehner John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...

, U.S. Congressman

, and Indiana Governor

Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician. A Republican, Daniels served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. Since 2013, Daniels has been pr ...

. Bucshon received significant campaign contributions from medical groups Bucshon defeated van Haaften by a margin of 21 points, winning all 18 counties in the district.

Polling

2010

District 9

Democratic incumbent Baron Hill was challenged by Republican Todd Young
campaign sitePVSWhoRunsGov
, Libertarian Greg Knott
campaign sitePVS
, and Independent Jerry Lucas
campaign sitePVS
. He was defeated, and was defeated by

Todd Young Todd Christopher Young (born August 24, 1972) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Indiana, a seat he has held since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Young previously served as the U.S. r ...

.
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2010 Indiana - 9th District
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''
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nytimes.com; accessed November 9, 2016.

Primaries

Five-term Congressman Democrat Baron Hill has won in the ninth district since 1998, except for in 2004, when he lost to Republican

Mike Sodrel Michael E. Sodrel (born December 17, 1945) is an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Indiana's 9th congressional district from 2005 to 2007. Sodrel launched another run aga ...

by 1,425 votes. Hill narrowly regained his seat from Sodrel in 2006 and won another race with Sodrel in 2008 by a wider margin. McCain carried the district with only 50% of the vote. In 2010, Sodrel sought another rematch, but lost to former

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

Captain and

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

Deputy Prosecutor

in the Republican primary. Independent Jerry Lucas, a nurse and army veteran, has also filed to run. Greg Knott entered the race as the

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

candidate. Prior to the campaign season, Hill came under increasing public pressure following the passage of the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...

. At public meetings, Hill had to be escorted by state police for his protection and had heated verbal exchanges with the public which made local news on several occasions and leading Hill to refuse to hold additional public meetings in person.

General

Hill launched a series of campaign ads beginning in mid August questioning Young's intentions for the future of

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

and highlighting a comment made by Young referring to it as a "

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...

". Local media covering the debate questioned both candidates about their ads; Hill defended his support of healthcare, stimulus, and new regulatory legislation as the correct votes for the future of the country. Young reconfirmed his position, stating Social Security was indeed a "Ponzi scheme" and needed reform to remain financially viable and called on Hill to explain his financial plans for the nation. The last week of August, the Young campaign began running ads on radio and television pointing out Hill's record of supporting spending legislation and calling on fiscal restraint in Congress. On the night of August 30, Young's Bloomington campaign headquarters were vandalized; the air conditioner was stolen, the phone and internet lines into the building were cut, the power disconnected. The Young campaign requested that Hill participate in seven

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

style debates. The first scheduled debate will be held October 18 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in Bloomington. In a post-primary June Public Opinion Strategies poll, Hill had a 41–33 lead over Young. An August poll conducted by the Young campaign suggested only 37% of voters believed Hill deserved another term. During the first week of September Real Clear Politics had the race rated as a toss-up.

=Polling

=Results

2010

References

External links

Election Division
at the Indiana Secretary of State
U.S. Congress Candidates for Indiana
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Indiana U.S. House
from OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions for U.S. Congressional races in Indiana
from

2010 Indiana General Election
graph of multiple polls from ''Pollster.com''
House - Indiana
from the ''

Cook Political Report ''The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter'' is an American online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the U.S. Presidency, the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and U.S. governors' offices. Sel ...

''
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look up congressional districts and candidates by zip code or address {{United States elections, 2010

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2010 Indiana elections