From Erickson over on RedState:

For my part, I decided last night I’m going to go with State Senator Marlin Stutzman. He need new, young, conservatives in Washington — fresh faces, fresh voices, and fresh ideas based on time tested principles. Marlin Stutzman fits the bill. I’m going to send him some money today.

Don Bates, Jr. has completed his signature drive and plans to file soon. Rumor has it the Marlin Stutzman and John Hostettler campaigns aren’t far behind. And the bad blood between, mostly, Stutzman supporters and those collecting signatures for former Senator Dan Coats continues to burn white hot.

In the 4th CD the list of Republicans interested in replacing Steve Buyer continues to grow. According to Indiana Legislative Insight some of those names include:

• Former Purdue president Martin Jischke
• Rep. Tim Brown of Crawfordsville
• Hendricks County Commissioner Eric Wathen
• (As Abdul noted) Sen. Mike Young of Indianapolis, who also sought the seat, though unsuccessfully, in the post-redistricting primary in 2002
• Sen. Ron Alting of Lafayette
• Dave Heath the former Lafayette mayor

Currently, Secretary of State Todd Rokita and State Senator Brandt Hershman are the leading contenders, though Rokita, as of this writing, is the only one of the two who has filed.

In the 5th CD, backroom deals have been attempted to “thin the field”. According to Howey:

“Dr. John McGoff told HPI on Friday (Feb. 5th) that he had been offered an Indianapolis City-County Council seat to get out of the race. McGoff said he is committed to staying in the 5th CD race.”

This was done after fellow 5th CD challenger Luke Messer was quoted as saying “”The other guys have to look in the mirror and reach their own decisions. But we have to reach out. There’s no backroom way to get this done.” (emphasis mine)

In the 9th CD, Congressman Mike Pence will be endorsing Mike Sodrel this coming Saturday morning at the Clark County GOP headquarters. This comes after fellow 9th CD challenger Todd Young has racked up plenty of endorsements of his own from most of the statewide elected officials. Travis Hankins is also still making a run of it in the 9th.

Contentious primaries, all! And apparently, there could be more news today! So feel free to discuss your particular race of choice. Just keep things civil.

Although the US Senate race has been interesting for Indiana Republicans as candidates have stepped into the race and others speculated about, nothing really matters unless each of the candidates get on the ballot.  Sources have told me that the Don Bates campaign has all but wrapped up its ballot access effort, and will be guaranteed an appearance on the May primary ballot by late next week. 

The Coats team, or what will have to become the Coats team, is facing a deadline in two weeks that the other campaigns have been working towards for several months.  This is not to say that their job is impossible, because if you pay enough people you can get enough folks to gather signatures. 

Some homeschool groups are working to get John Hostettler past the magic threshold of 4,500 signatures.  The former Congressman appears to not be deviating from his tried and true (until 2006) tactic of mobilizing SoCos and libertarians to make up for in manpower what he has always lacked in money.

With all the hubbub surrounding Dan Coats as the latest possible entry in the race to defeat Evan Bayh, let’s not forget the hard working candidates who have actually been going through shoe leather like it was candy the last few months.  We’ll probably have more posts like this in the future, but Marlin Stutzman has made this one easy for me.

(Originally written in the community blogs by derektrovi)

Except this time,Flipper helps the sharks eat you.

A big h/t to Jay Kenworthy as well as Frugal Hoosiers for breaking this one:

Does Sen. Bayh think Hoosiers are stupid? He says one thing and does another. I’m beginning to think he actually doesn’t want to get reelected this year. Who can blame him with DC bruising our economy so badly – Bayh doesn’t even come home without the security of Air Force One.

Hoosiers deserve a US Senator who will do something to create opportunity, not smother it. Marlin Stutzman is that man. Even as a young state legislator, Marlin Stutzman has fought alongside Governor Mitch Daniels and against big spending liberals.

Marlin Stutzman has proven himself by fighting big government in the following ways:

- Fighting for balanced budgets
- Eliminating lavish benefits for legislators
- Legislating for SOLVENT infrastructure / road systems
- Keeping taxes low and capping property taxes

That is the fresh perspective Washington DC desperately needs and what Hoosiers Deserve. To paraphrase Rep. Mike Pence, America needs leaders to show with deeds, not just words. Bayh has made too many empty promises.

(Read more after the leap)

Rep. Mike Pence has not come out publicly yet to say whether he is running for Senate yet or not. But the buzz lately has been is Pence going to run?

Well then this came out this morning from Real Clear Politics that Pence (who I might add is not running yet) is already leading Senator Bayh by 3 points! This has got to be sitting real well with Senator Bayh and his team. Someone even said on Twitter this morning they thought they saw a chair fly out of the window of the Market Tower this morning, where Senator Bayh’s office is located.

Indiana Rep. Mike Pence (R) leads Sen. Evan Bayh (D) by 3 points, according to a new Rasmussen poll. Pence, the third ranking Republican in the House, is considering a Senate bid but hasn’t indicated publicly which way he is leaning.

Bayh leads two other Republicans, ex-congressman John Hostettler and State Sen. Marlin Stutzman, but still polled below 50% — not a good sign for an incumbent.

Bayh 44 – Pence 47

Bayh 44 – Hostettler 41

Bayh 45 – Stutzman 33

Senator Bayh really has to be wondering what in the world is going on, but he has stood with Obama on the issues and the people of Indiana are sick and tired of it. Senator Bayh you might want to start packing your office both in DC and here in Indiana, cause this is not looking good for you.

UPDATE: Here is the Rasmussen Poll

According to Derek Pillie’s Twitter, Marlin Stutzman received the endorsement of Allen County Right to Life PAC today.

From Marlin Stutzman who is running against Evan Bayh

—————————————————————–

If there is one thing I’ve learned over the course of the last year as I’ve traveled this state, it’s that Hoosiers are looking for authenticity from their elected leaders. If there is a second thing that I’ve learned, it’s that when it comes to college sports in Indiana, you better know who your audience is. In a recent appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program, Senator Bayh managed to pull off what I thought was a very difficult feat–insulting an entire state by masking his voting record, and revealing himself as someone that apparently doesn’t pay much attention to one of his state’s home teams.

During the interview, Bayh shared his concern for incoming Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly for having to deal with the loss of starting quarterback, “Casey Clausen,” but more on that a bit later. The real purpose of having Bayh on the program was to have the Senator speak about his newfound desire to become a fiscal conservative. He shared that we must now start to look at addressing the runaway spending and crippling debt that faces our nation, and will shackle future generations. With triangulation like that we must be nearing an election year. It’s unfortunate that MSNBC let Bayh off the hook for his appalling fiscal record, but then again, the Senator has been given a free pass his entire career.

(Read more after the leap)

With the announcement from former 8th District Congressman John Hostettler that he’s jumping in the race to challenge Evan Bayh for his senate seat, the 2010 Republican Senate primary is looking crowded (that is if each of the four announced challengers can get the 5,000 signatures needed to get on the ballot).  Hostettler already joins State Senator Marlin Stutzman, and businessmen Don Bates Jr. and Richard Behney as Republicans who hope to be Indiana’s new junior senator.

But the $12 Million dollar question remains.  Will any of these guys raise the kind of money needed to challenge Senator Bayh in a meaningful election?  It’s true that money doesn’t necessarily make the campaign.  Just ask Greg Ballard.  But for every Greg Ballard, there is a Marvin Scott, Andy Horning, Greg Goode, Luke Puckett, ect.  Candidates that can’t raise the cash to run meaningful or successful campaigns.

Read more after the leap.

Hoosier Access

We apologize for the poor quality video – we’re having to resort to using cellular laptop cards and Sprint doesn’t have the best signal here in Warsaw.

By: Brian Sikma

How can you tell an election is nearing?  There is a rush by incumbents to fulfill campaign promises; or, in some cases, keep up with perceptions and appearances.  Whenever a politician can’t actually stay in the middle of the road, he sometimes over corrects his position and ends up with a record that looks like someone zig-zagging from side-to-side all down the road of governing.  When it comes time to exchange governing for the campaign trail, this variation of position allows the officeholder and candidate to point at numerous points on his record that indicate he can identify with the positions of each voter.  Some smart person once labeled this shifting of positions the “versatility of convictions.”

This is exactly what Senator Evan Bayh is doing right now.  After voting in favor of the TARP funding last year, and voting for the $780 billion stimulus bill this year, Bayh has now shifted into fiscal conservative mode by voting against the $410 billion ominbus spending bill and the $3.5 trillion Obama budget proposal.  On healthcare reform and climate change legislation, he has sounded his concern with ultra-liberal policies in these areas.  But when President Obama made his first judicial nomination by nominating Judge David F. Hamilton to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Bayh promptly praised the president’s selection.  Hamilton has ties to the Indiana chapter of the ACLU and his time on the federal district court bench has been marked by very liberal-leaning decisions.  When President Bush nominated native Hoosier John Roberts to the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Bayh was somehow unable to support him.

But as Bayh fishes around trying to find the right stride for his re-election effort, others are looking at his job and thinking they could serve Indiana better.  One name that has been mentioned repeatedly is that of Dan Dumazich, a successful northwest Indiana and Chicago attorney and former legislator who could probably self-finance a great portion of his own Senate campaign.  Another name that has been getting traction is State Senator Marlin Stutzman (R-Howe), a successful candidate for the Indiana House and Indiana Senate.  A small business owner, farmer, former Congressional staffer, and rising star amongst conservative legislators, Stutzman has proved that he can communicate a compelling message and raise the money need to win office.

(Read More Below the Fold)