Brad Ellsworth says yes, he has spoken with Senator Evan Bayh this week.
Did Bayh ask Ellsworth to run for the Senate?
“He asked me to consider it,” says Ellsworth.
This is the only known effort by Bayh to encourage an individual into the race for the Senate seat he is abandoning. Monday, Bayh made the announcement that he would not seek a third term. It caught Indiana Democrats and Republicans by surprise.
Bayh is well-liked in Indiana, had better than $13-million dollars in campaign cash raised and was widely seen as a likely winner in November. He had won statewide election five-times (once for Secretary of State, twice for Governor and twice for Senate) as a centrist Democrat in a Republican-leaning state.
Bayh’s move left no time for other candidates to get on the May 4th primary ballot. It will be the job of the 32-member State Central Committee of the Indiana Democratic Party to select a replacement candidate. However, the committee must wait until after the primary to make its choice.
Daniel Parker who’s the state party chairman says, “The person who is probably ultimately nominated is probably gonna look, from a record standpoint, lot like Senator Bayh.”
That again sounds like Ellsworth who is generally viewed as a moderate Democrat. He represents the 8th district in conservative Southern Indiana. Ellsworth is pro-gun rights and pro-life. Before getting elected to Congress in 2006, Ellsworth was the highly visible Sheriff of Vanderburgh County. A handsome man, local female TV reporters privately referred to Ellsworth as “Sheriff Dreamy”.
Ellsworth is not the only Democrat interested in Bayh’s seat. Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott says he’s interested in the Senate nomination…and 9th District Congressman Baron Hill is frequently mentioned as a possible contender Hill has not been able to be reached for comment because this week he’s abroad visiting American troops.
The Republicans have a potentially contentious primary on their hands. Five candidates include a former US Senator from Indiana, Dan Coats. When Dan Quayle became Vice President, Coats was appointed to the Senate seat and won re-election in 1994. Coats did not run again in 2000.
Other Republican contenders include Former Indiana Congressman John Hostettler who lost his US House job when Ellsworth defeated him in the 2006 contest. There is also first-term State Senator Marlin Stutzman, financial adviser Don Bates Jr. of Richmond and businessman Richard Behney of the Indianapolis suburb of Fishers.