The 2010 United States Senate election in Indiana took place on November 2, 2010, alongside 33 other elections to the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in other states and elections to 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 ...
and various state and local elections to fill Indiana's
class III United States Senate seat. Incumbent
Democratic U.S. Senator
Evan Bayh
Birch Evans Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011 and the 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997.
Bayh w ...
decided in February 2010 to retire instead of seeking a third term shortly after Republican former U.S. Senator
Dan Coats
Daniel Ray Coats (born May 16, 1943) is an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat. From 2017 to 2019, he served as the Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a ...
, announced his candidacy for Bayh's contested seat.
Bayh's announcement came one day before the filing deadline and no Democratic candidate submitted enough signatures by the deadline to run, so the State Democratic Party chose U.S. Congressman
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, ...
as their nominee. 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 ...
nominated YMCA instructor Rebecca Sink-Burris, who had previously run against
Evan Bayh
Birch Evans Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011 and the 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997.
Bayh w ...
in the
1998 United States Senate election in Indiana but with less success than in this election. Coats won the open seat.
Democratic nomination
Senate candidates in Indiana were required to have submitted 500 signatures from each of the state's nine congressional districts by February 16, 2010, one day after Bayh announced his retirement. Democratic leaders thought the popular incumbent would run for reelection, and as a result, no Democratic candidate had submitted the requisite signatures by the deadline to run in the state's primary, meaning that the
Indiana Democratic Party
The Democratic Party of Indiana is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Indiana.
The Indiana Democratic Party currently holds two of Indiana's United States congressional delegations from I ...
's executive committee chose the party's nominee. U.S. congressman
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, ...
was officially selected on May 15.
Republican primary
Candidates
* Don Bates, businessman
* Richard Behney, businessman
*
Dan Coats
Daniel Ray Coats (born May 16, 1943) is an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat. From 2017 to 2019, he served as the Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a ...
, former U.S. Senator
*
John Hostettler
John Nathan Hostettler (born July 19, 1961) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1995, to January 3, 2007, representing the Indiana's 8th congressional district. He lost his reelectio ...
, former U.S. Representative
*
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 ...
, State Senator
Debates
* 1. March 6
* 2. April 8 (on the
WXNT
WXNT (1430 AM) is a commercial radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana. The station is owned by Cumulus Media, and carries an all-sports radio format, as an affiliate of the CBS Sports Radio Network. WXNT's schedule consists of CBS Sports Radi ...
radio station)
* 3. April 10
* 4. April 19 (at
Franklin College, on radio station
WFCI)
* 5. April 20 (televised on
WFYI)
Endorsements
Coats
Hostettler
Stutzman
Polling
Results
General election
Candidates
*
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, ...
(D), U.S. Representative
*
Dan Coats
Daniel Ray Coats (born May 16, 1943) is an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat. From 2017 to 2019, he served as the Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a ...
(R), former U.S. Senator
* Rebecca Sink-Burris (
L), teacher and small business owner
Campaign
After Coats' win in the Republican primary, Ellsworth began to heavily criticize Coats for his ties to lobbyists. He called for more disclosure of the meetings lawmakers have with lobbyists, banning congressional staff from lobbying for six years after their congressional jobs, requiring Congress members to put all their investments in blind trusts, more disclosure of Senate candidates' personal financial information, and changes to the U.S. Senate filibuster rules. He proposed lowering number of votes required to break a filibuster to 55 from the current 60. In response to Ellsworth's charges, Coats published his lobbying record in an 815-page document.
Coats emphasized the individual issues rather than ethic reforms advocated by his opponent. He focused on Ellsworth's record of voting in support of the
Economic Stimulus Act of 2008
The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 () was an Act of Congress providing for several kinds of economic stimuli intended to boost the United States economy in 2008 and to avert a recession, or ameliorate economic conditions. The stimulus package was ...
,
cap and trade
Emissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. The concept is also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS). Carbon emission t ...
legislation, and
health care bill. Coats opinion of the healthcare law was that "the only responsible solution ... is to repeal the Obama-Pelosi-Ellsworth health spending bill and quickly replace it with cost-effective, incremental pieces that will decrease costs, increase coverage and not break the bank."
Debates
The three candidates took part in three televised debates.
* Monday, October 11, in Indianapolis
* Friday, October 22, in Fort Wayne
* Monday, October 25, in Vincennes
Predictions
Polling
Fundraising
Results
See also
*
2010 Indiana elections
*
2010 United States Senate elections
The 2010 United States Senate elections were held on November 2, 2010, from among the United States Senate's 100 seats. A special election was held on January 19, 2010, for a mid-term vacancy in Massachusetts. Thirty-four of the November electio ...
References
External links
Indiana Secretary of State Elections DivisionU.S. Congress candidates for Indianaat
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. Senatefrom OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributionsfrom
Open Secrets
''Open Secrets'' () is a book of short story, short stories by Alice Munro published by McClelland and Stewart in 1994 in literature, 1994. It was nominated for the 1994 Governor General's Awards, 1994 Governor General's Award for English Fiction ...
Indiana Pollsgraph of multiple polls from ''Pollster.com''
Election 2010: Indiana Senatefrom
Rasmussen Reports
Rasmussen Reports is an American polling company founded in 2003. The company engages in political commentary and the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Rasmussen Reports conducts nightly tracking, ...
2010 Indiana Senate Racefrom
Real Clear Politics
RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator formed in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. The site features selected political ...
2010 Indiana Senate Racefrom
CQ Politics
Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...
Race profilefrom
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
;Debates
Indiana Senate Republican Primary Debate C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
, April 20, 2010
;Official candidate sites (Archived)
Dan Coats for SenateBrad Ellsworth for SenateRebecca Sink-Burris for Senate
{{US Third Party Election
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
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 ...
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 ...