Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh will not seek re-election this November, an unexpected decision that hands Republicans an opportunity for a pick-up in a year when Democrats are already defending several open Senate seats.
FoxNews.com
2/15/2010
Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh will not seek re-election this November, an unexpected decision that hands Republicans an opportunity for a pick-up in a year when Democrats are already defending several open Senate seats.
The two-term senator is known as a moderate Democrat. Former GOP Sen. Dan Coats had been planning to challenge Bayh in November — but several Democratic sources said the decision appeared to personal, not political.
A senior Obama administration official said Bayh called President Obama Monday morning to discuss the decision and indicated the senator had been considering retirement for awhile.
“The president has had several conversations with Senator Bayh about 2010. Bayh made his final decision this weekend, and it is personal, not at all political,” the official said. “He is by nature a governor — not a senator.”
Bayh is a former Indiana governor and secretary of state. One senior Democratic source told Fox News that recent polling showed Bayh way ahead of Coats, and that the retirement must have been a personal decision. Bayh’s staff said the latest polling showed Bayh ahead of Coats by 20 points.
In prepared remarks published by The Indianapolis Star, Bayh said he was “confident” about his prospects for re-election, but discouraged in his work on Capitol Hill by excessive partisanship.
“After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so in Congress has waned,” he said, according to The Star.
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