Former Indiana Governor and US Senator Evan Bayh is planning a return to politics after announcing plans to replace Democratic candidate Baron Hill.
“With the challenges facing Indiana and our country, I can no longer sit on the sidelines and watch as partisan bickering grinds Washington to a halt. Hoosier families deserve more and I’ve decided to run to take their cause to the U.S. Senate,” Bayh said in a statement.
The former two-term senator and two-term governor would replace former Rep. Baron Hill, who won the Democratic primary but withdrew from the ticket Monday.
That cleared the way for the state party to pick Bayh when leaders meet July 22 to choose a new candidate for the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Dan Coats.
Hill, who had been struggling to raise money and his profile, said he pulled out to give Democrats a better chance of taking the Senate.
“The stakes are far too high in this election not to put my country above my own political ambitions,” Hill said in his announcement.
Coats (R-Ind.) issued the following statement regarding the 2016 Indiana Senate election:
“The 2016 election is about the future, not the past. Evan Bayh’s arranged entrance into this race means that Washington Democrats have the candidate they want to continue the failed Obama-Clinton policies of the past eight years.
“Fortunately, Hoosiers will have a clear choice this fall. Evan Bayh has a long track record of saying one thing to Hoosiers and then doing another in Washington. Bayh supported big government policies like Obamacare and the White House’s lackluster economic agenda. He will have to explain to Hoosiers why he rubber-stamped Barack Obama’s agenda for two years before deciding to leave the Senate.
“Todd Young – a graduate of the Naval Academy and a Marine veteran – has the character, leadership qualities and Hoosier common-sense to be an outstanding senator. He has a proven track record of pushing for innovative, conservative solutions to our nation’s biggest problems and has consistently fought for smaller, more efficient government.
“It is time for a new generation to represent Hoosiers in the Senate.”
“After he cast the deciding vote for Obamacare, Evan Bayh left Indiana families to fend for themselves so he could cash-in with insurance companies and influence peddlers as a gold-plated lobbyist. This seat isn’t the birthright of a wealthy lobbyist from Washington, it belongs to the people of Indiana.”
