| Elections in Indiana | |||||||||||
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The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana will be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 to elect the nine U.S. Representatives from the state, one from each of the state's nine congressional districts. The elections will coincide with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election, an election to the U.S. Senate, and a gubernatorial election.
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A redistricting bill was passed by both houses of the Indiana General Assembly in April 2011[1][2] and signed into law by Governor Mitch Daniels on May 10, 2011. The newly-drawn map was designed to produce seven districts which are favorable to the Republican Party and two which favor the Democratic Party. Republicans described the districts as being more compact and more in keeping with existing county boundaries than the previous map,[3] while Democrats argue that the map is intended to protect Republican incumbents and help the Republican Party win the 2nd district.[1]
The 1st district, which has been represented by Democrat Pete Visclosky since 1985, is expected to remain favorable to Democrats.[1] The district, based in the suburbs and exurbs of Chicago, Illinois, acquired parts of LaPorte County, including Michigan City, in redistricting.[4]
Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly, who has represented the 2nd district since 2007, will run for the U.S. Senate rather than for re-election to the House of Representatives.[5] Brendan Mullen, an Army veteran and military contractor,[6] and Andrew Straw, an attorney,[7] will seek the Democratic nomination.
Greg Andrews,[8] businessman Mitch Feikes,[9] and former state representative Jackie Walorski, who ran as the Republican nominee against Donnelly in 2010,[10] will seek the Republican nomination.
In redistricting, parts of the state which typically favor Republicans, including Elkhart County, Miami County, Wabash County and much of Kosciusko County, were moved into the 2nd district, while Democratic-leaning areas such as Kokomo and part of LaPorte County were removed from the district.[1] Prior to announcing his Senate campaign, Donnelly commented that he was "confident" that a Democrat would be able to win the district, noting that then-Senator Barack Obama would have received 49 per cent of the vote in the district in the 2008 presidential election had it been held under the newly-drawn boundaries.[11]
The 3rd district, which has been represented by Republican Marlin Stutzman since November 2010, is expected to remain favorable to Republicans.[1] Among the changes made in redistricting were the removal of Elkhart County from the 4th district to the 2nd, and the addition of areas south of Fort Wayne, which may make Stutzman vulnerable to a primary challenge.[4]
Republican incumbent Todd Rokita, who was first elected to represent the 4th district in 2010, plans to run for-relection. Rokita's home lies "about 500 yards" outside the boundaries of the newly-drawn 4th district, a phenomenon he attributed in May 2011 to "a kind of comeuppance thing" on the part of members of the Indiana General Assembly in return for his having supported a nonpartisan redistricting process during his tenure as Secretary of State of Indiana. Sue Landske, a Republican member of the Indiana Senate, denied that this was the case.[12] The 4th district is expected to remain favorable to Republicans.[1]
Republican incumbent Dan Burton, who has represented the 5th district since 2003 and previously represented the 6th district from 1983, will seek re-election.[13] The 5th district will continue to include Hamilton County and the north side of Indianapolis,[13] but will receive Democratic-leaning areas in northern Marion and Madison, as well as the towns of Kokomo and East Kokomo,[4] and lose rural areas near Fort Wayne.[13] The district is expected to continue to favor Republicans.[1]
Former U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks,[14] attorney Jack Lugar,[15] and John McGoff, who challenged Burton in the Republican primary in 2008 and 2010,[16] will also run for the Republican nomination. Republican David McIntosh, who represented the 6th district from 1995 until 2001, has formed an exploratory committee to run.[17] State senator Mike Delph, also a Republican, will not run.[18]
State representative Scott Reske plans to seek the Democratic nomination.[19]
The 6th district was made more favorable to Republicans in redistricting,[20] and now stretches from Muncie to the Ohio River.[1] Republican incumbent Mike Pence announced in May 2011 that he would run for Governor of Indiana rather than for re-election to the House of Representatives.[21]
Don Bates, Jr., a financial adviser who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010;[20] former state senator Bill Frazier;[22] Travis Hankins, a developer who unsuccessfully ran in the 9th district in 2010;[20] John Hatter, a human resources director at Ivy Tech Community College;[20] Luke Messer, a former state representative and former executive director of the Indiana Republican Party who challenged Dan Burton in the 5th district in 2010;[20] Andrew Phipps, a retired educator who unsuccessfully ran for the Indiana Senate in 2002 and 2006;[23] and T.J. Thompson, who unsuccessfully challenged Pence in 2010,[20] are running for the Republican nomination.
Other potential Republican candidates include Nate LaMar, the president of the Henry County Council;[24][25] state senator Jean Lesing;[26] and former U.S. Representative Mike Sodrel.[24] Matt Strittmatter, a former Wayne County Sheriff, formed an exploratory committee to run for the seat[24] but announced in June 2011 that he would not run, and would instead support Messer.[27] Former U.S. Representative David McIntosh, who represented the 6th district from 1995 until 2001, had considered running for the Republican nomination in the 6th district in 2012, but will instead run in the 5th district.[17]
Dan Bolling, a biotech entrepreneur from Wayne County; Brad Bookout, a former member of the Delaware County Council;[28] Jim Crone, a sociology professor at Hanover College;[20] Lane Siekman, an attorney;[20] and Barry Welsh, who has challenged Pence three times, are running for the Democratic nomination.[20]
The 7th district, which has been represented by Democrat André Carson since 2007, lost Democratic-leaning areas in northern Marion County in redistricting, while acquiring more Republican areas in the south of the county.[4] Nonetheless, the district is expected to remain favorable to Democrats.[1]
Republican incumbent Larry Bucshon, who was first elected in 2010, raised the relatively small total of US$45,330 in the first quarter of 2011.[29] Kristi Risk, a stay-at-home mom and unsuccessful Republican primary candidate in 2010, will run again.[30]
The 8th district's Democratic candidates agreed to participate in a caucus in which the chairs and vice chairs of 38 counties would vote to decide the party's nominee; after which the candidates not selected would support the winner.[31] Former state representative Dave Crooks was endorsed as the Democratic nominee by party leaders on December 10, 2011. Patrick Scates, a former aide to former U.S. Representative Brad Ellsworth, was unsuccessful in receiving the party's endorsement. Terry White, the chair of the Warrick County Democratic Party, ended his campaign in December 2011 prior to the caucus.[32]
Trent Van Haaften, a former state representative who was the Democratic nominee in the 8th district in 2010, said in April 2011 that he had yet to rule himself in or out of the race.[33] Ellsworth, who represented the district from 2007 until 2011 and unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010, has not expressed interest in running for the 8th district.[4]
The 8th district was made slightly more favorable to Democrats in redistricting, as a result of the removal of Fountain County, Putnam County and Warren County, all of which favor Republicans, and the addition of Dubois County, Perry County, Spencer County and part of Crawford County, all of which strongly favor neither party.[4]
The 9th district, which has been represented by Republican Todd Young since January 2011, previously consisted mostly of rural areas in southeastern Indiana, but was made more favorable to Republicans by extending it northwards to include Johnson County and Morgan County while also incorporating suburbs of Louisville, Kentucky.[1][4]
Jonathan George, a former Air Force officer who served on the United States National Security Council,[34] and Robert Winningham, a former employee of former U.S. Representative Lee Hamilton[35] will seek the Democratic nomination. Both Sam Locke, an Air Force veteran and unsuccessful 2010 candidate for State Auditor[36] and Peggy Welch, a member of the Indiana House of Representatives,[37] had considered running for the Democratic nomination; however, neither will run.
