Congressional Race Roundup

There was only one big upset in Indiana's nine Republican primary congressional races and that happened in Indiana's 9th district where newcomer Todd Young defeated former U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel, who finished third behind tea party candidate Travis Hankins. Young captured 34% of the vote, Hankins got 32% and Sodrel finished with 30%. The embarrassment of Indiana Republican politics, Dan Burton, will get another term in Congress representing the 5th. He captured only 30% of the vote compared to Luke Messer's 30%. John McGoff was the only other candidate to make a showing in that race. He finished with 19% of the vote. Mike Murphy came in fourth place with only 9% of the vote. Brose McVey finished fifth with 8% of the vote. Todd Rokita handily defeated his crowded field of opponents in the 4th district race to replace U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer. He captured 42% of the vote. His nearest competitor, Brandt Hershman, got only 17% of the vote. U.S. Rep. Mark Souder shared honors with Burton in being renominated with less than 50% of the vote. He won 48% of the vote in the 3rd district race compared to the 34% Bob Thomas collected. Jackie Walorski stomped her opponents in the 2nd district, winning 61% of the vote. Mark Levya will get the Republican nod in the 1st district race. He narrowly won in a crowded field with 25% of the vote. In the 8th district race to succeed Democrat Brad Ellswoth, Larry Bucshon narrowlyd defeated Kristi Risk, 33% to 29%. Marvin Scott defeated the Republican slated candidate in the 7th district race, 44% to 37%.

Indiana's Republican U.S. Senate primary race is a huge disappointment to say the least. Ex-senator and recently retired D.C. lobbyist Dan Coats will run against Democrat Brad Ellsworth. He won 39% of the vote. Only Marlin Stutzman made a real run at him. He got 29% of the vote. Former U.S. Rep. John Hostettler finished third with 23% of the vote. Laying aside Coats' baggage as a D.C. lobbyist/insider, I'll never forget how he turned tail and ran away from a challenge in his last senate race, effectively handing the seat to Evan Bayh. The man is a total coward, not to mention extremely unattractive. If this guy is the future of our party, I want no part of it. Seeing this guy vote on TV news broadcasts at a northside Indianapolis precinct was quite the joke. The man has never lived a day in his life in the city of Indianapolis. I hear that Lugar family members voted for Stutzman in yesterday's primary. It is quite telling that Sen. Richard Lugar didn't offer an endorsement of Coats' comeback bid prior to yesterday's primary.