Indiana Democrats are on the verge of having a new candidate for the Senate seat of retiring Dem Evan Bayh, with Rep. Brad Ellsworth about to jump in — though they won’t be able to officially have a nominee in legal terms for a little while.
Chris Cillizza and Politico report that sources say Ellsworth is definitely in the race. A high-level Democratic source has also confirmed the news to TPMDC. (Late Update: Ellsworth himself has confirmed it to the local NBC station in Evansville.)
The Indianapolis Star also reports that Democratic state Rep. Trent Van Haaften has filed to run for Ellsworth’s House seat. However the Star reports, it turns out that state law will prevent the Dems from being able to select the Senate candidate until after the May 4 primary.
From the Star’s report:
Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker, who had said he wanted a candidate quickly, said Thursday that “the sooner rather than later has now become later.”
Parker had hoped to call a meeting of the Democratic Party’s state central committee’s 32 voting members as early as next week. But after party attorneys researched state law, they discovered they could not fill the ballot vacancy until after the primary.
