Dan Coats Wins GOP Primary

Former Sen. Dan Coats

In Indiana, it’ll be former Sen. Dan Coats (R) versus Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D) in the general election to succeed the retiring Sen. Evan Bayh (D), after Coats’ victory tonight in the GOP primary. Ellsworth is the presumptive Democratic nominee (recall that Bayh announced his decision not to run too late for there to be a Democratic primary, so the party’s central committee will select the nominee, but Ellsworth is the only contender). Coats held this seat until he retired in 1998. Now after 12 years in the lucrative lobbying business, he’s got a chance to get his old seat back.