# 2010 United States Senate election in Indiana

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The 2010 United States Senate election in Indiana took place on November 2, 2010, alongside 33 other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections to fill Indiana's class III United States Senate seat. Incumbent Democratic Senator Evan Bayh decided in February 2010 to retire instead of seeking a third term shortly after Dan Coats announced his candidacy. Bayh's announcement came one day before the filing deadline and no Democratic candidate submitted enough signatures by the deadline to run, so the State Democratic Party chose U.S. Congressman Brad Ellsworth as their nominee. The Libertarian Party nominated YMCA instructor Rebecca Sink-Burris, who had previously unsuccessfully run for this seat in 1998. Coats won the open seat, having previously held it from 1989 to 1999. Bayh later unsuccessfully ran for this seat again in 2016.

## Democratic nomination

Senate candidates in Indiana were required to have submitted 500 signatures from each of the state's nine congressional districts by February 16, 2010, one day after Bayh announced his retirement. Democratic leaders thought the popular incumbent would run for reelection, and as a result, no Democratic candidate had submitted the requisite signatures by the deadline to run in the state's primary, meaning that the Indiana Democratic Party's executive committee chose the party's nominee. U.S. congressman Brad Ellsworth was officially selected on May 15.

## Republican primary
### Candidates

* Don Bates, businessman
* Richard Behney, businessman
* Dan Coats, former U.S. Senator
* John Hostettler, former U.S. Representative
* Marlin Stutzman, State Senator

### Debates

* 1. March 6
* 2. April 8 (on the WXNT radio station)
* 3. April 10
* 4. April 19 (at Franklin College, on radio station WFCI)
* 5. April 20 (televised on WFYI)

### Endorsements
#### Coats

* U.S. Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona
* U.S. Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana
* Former United States Secretary of Education Bill Bennett
* National Republican Senatorial Committee
* Founder of Focus on the Family James Dobson
* The Journal Gazette
* Elizabeth Cheney

#### Hostettler

* U.S. Congressman Ron Paul of Texas
* Former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas
* Former U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado
* Team America PAC
* Republican Liberty Caucus
* Gun Owners of America
* Indiana's Conservative Hardball Blog

#### Stutzman

* Former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas
* U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)
* U.S. Congressman Mark E. Souder
* State Senator David C. Long
* Chairman of the American Conservative Union David Keene

### Polling

| Poll Source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of Error | Dan Coats | John Hostettler | Marlin Stutzman | Other | Undecided |
| Survey USA (report Archived May 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine) | April 29, 2010 | 407 | ± 5.0% | 36% | 24% | 18% | 10% | 13% |

### Results

Republican Primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Dan Coats | 217,225 | 39.5% |
| | Republican | Marlin Stutzman | 160,981 | 29.2% |
| | Republican | John Hostettler | 124,494 | 22.6% |
| | Republican | Don Bates Jr. | 24,664 | 4.5% |
| | Republican | Richard Behney | 23,005 | 4.2% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 550,369 | 100.0% |

## General election
### Candidates

* Brad Ellsworth (D), U.S. Representative
* Dan Coats (R), former U.S. Senator
* Rebecca Sink-Burris (L), teacher and small business owner

### Campaign

After Coats' win in the Republican primary, Ellsworth began to heavily criticize Coats for his ties to lobbyists. He called for more disclosure of the meetings lawmakers have with lobbyists, banning congressional staff from lobbying for six years after their congressional jobs, requiring Congress members to put all their investments in blind trusts, more disclosure of Senate candidates' personal financial information, and changes to the U.S. Senate filibuster rules. He proposed lowering number of votes required to break a filibuster to 55 from the current 60. In response to Ellsworth's charges, Coats published his lobbying record in an 815-page document.
Coats emphasized the individual issues rather than ethic reforms advocated by his opponent. He focused on Ellsworth's record of voting in support of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, cap and trade legislation, and health care bill. Coats opinion of the healthcare law was that "the only responsible solution ... is to repeal the Obama-Pelosi-Ellsworth health spending bill and quickly replace it with cost-effective, incremental pieces that will decrease costs, increase coverage and not break the bank."

### Debates

The three candidates took part in three televised debates.
* Monday, October 11, in Indianapolis
* Friday, October 22, in Fort Wayne
* Monday, October 25, in Vincennes

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Cook Political Report | Safe R (flip) | October 30, 2010 |
| Rothenberg | Lean R (flip) | October 28, 2010 |
| RealClearPolitics | Likely R (flip) | October 30, 2010 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Likely R (flip) | October 28, 2010 |
| CQ Politics | Safe R (flip) | October 30, 2010 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Dan Coats (R) | Brad Ellsworth (D) | Other | Unde cided |
| Rasmussen Reports | February 16–17, 2010 | 500 | ± 3.5% | 46% | 32% | 7% | 15% |
| Research 2000 | February 22–24, 2010 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 37% | 36% | — | 27% |
| Rasmussen Reports | March 17–18, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 49% | 34% | 6% | 12% |
| Rasmussen Reports | April 13–14, 2010 | 500 | ± 3.5% | 54% | 33% | 5% | 9% |
| SurveyUSA | April 22–26, 2010 | 407 | ± 5.0% | 47% | 31% | — | 22% |
| Rasmussen Reports | May 5–6, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 51% | 36% | 6% | 8% |
| Rasmussen Reports | June 2–3, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 47% | 33% | 7% | 14% |
| Rasmussen Reports | July 7–8, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 51% | 30% | 6% | 12% |
| The Polling Company | July 11–15, 2010 | 502 | ± 4.2% | 51% | 25% | — | 14% |
| The Polling Company | July 31 – August 3, 2010 | 502 | ± 4.2% | 50% | 35% | — | 14% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 4–7, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 50% | 29% | 7% | 14% |
| Rasmussen Reports | September 14–15, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 50% | 34% | 8% | 9% |
| WISH-TV/EPIC-MRA | September 29 – October 1, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.4% | 51% | 33% | 5% | 11% |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 20, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 52% | 34% | 5% | 9% |
| WISH-TV/EPIC-MRA | October 19–21, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.4% | 53% | 35% | 5% | 7% |
| SurveyUSA | October 21–25, 2010 | 1,600 | ± 3.0% | 54% | 32% | 7% | 3% |
| Indiana Times | October 29, 2010 | 1,600 | ± 3.0% | 60% | 32% | 4% | 3% |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 30 – November 1, 2010 | 1,600 | ± 3.0% | 60% | 39% | 4% | 3% |

### Fundraising

| Candidate (Party) | Receipts | Disbursements | Cash On Hand | Debt |
| Dan Coats (R) | $4,408,537 | $3,384,413 | $1,024,123 | $185,500 |
| Brad Ellsworth (D) | $2,256,505 | $2,369,943 | $119,329 | $22,726 |
| Rebecca Sink-Burris (L) | $7,331 | $2,175 | $5,351 | $0 |
| Source: Federal Election Commission |||||

### Results

2010 United States Senate election in Indiana :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Dan Coats | 952,116 | 54.58% | +17.35% |
| | Democratic | Brad Ellsworth | 697,775 | 40.00% | −21.65% |
| | Libertarian | Rebecca Sink-Burris | 94,330 | 5.41% | +4.28% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 260 | 0.01% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,744,481 | 100.0% | |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Delaware (largest city: Muncie)
* Porter (largest city: Portage)
* Madison (largest city: Anderson)
* Spencer (largest city: Santa Claus)
* Starke (largest city: Knox)
* Tippecanoe (largest city: Lafayette)
* Vanderburgh (largest city: Evansville)
* Scott (Largest city: Scottsburg)
* Blackford (Largest city: Hartford City)
* Clark (Largest city: Jeffersonville)
* Crawford (Largest city: Marengo)
* Floyd (Largest city: New Albany)
* Gibson (Largest city: Princeton)
* Jefferson (Largest city: Madison)
* Knox (Largest city: Vincennes)
* Pike (Largest city: Petersburg)
* Posey (Largest city: Mount Vernon)
* Switzerland (Largest city: Vevay)
* Warrick (Largest city: Boonville)
* Adams (Largest city: Decatur)
* Allen (Largest city: Fort Wayne)
* Bartholomew (Largest city: Columbus)
* Benton (Largest city: Fowler)
* Brown (Largest city: Nashville)
* Carroll (Largest city: Delphi)
* Cass (Largest city: Logansport)
* Clay (Largest city: Brazil)
* Clinton (Largest city: Frankfort)
* Daviess (Largest city: Washington)
* Decatur (Largest city: Greensburg)
* DeKalb (Largest city: Auburn)
* Dubois (Largest city: Jasper)
* Elkhart (Largest city: Elkhart)
* Fayette (Largest city: Connersville)
* Fountain (Largest city: Attica)
* Franklin (Largest city: Brookville)
* Fulton (Largest city: Rochester)
* Grant (Largest city: Marion)
* Greene (Largest city: Linton)
* Hancock (Largest city: Greenfield)
* Harrison (Largest city: Corydon)
* Henry (Largest city: New Castle)
* Howard (Largest city: Kokomo)
* Huntington (Largest city: Huntington)
* Jackson (Largest city: Seymour)
* Jay (Largest city: Portland)
* Jennings (Largest city: North Vernon)
* Johnson (Largest city: Greenwood)
* LaGrange (Largest city: LaGrange)
* Lawrence (Largest city: Bedford)
* Marshall (Largest city: Plymouth)
* Martin (Largest city: Loogootee)
* Miami (Largest city: Peru)
* Montgomery (Largest city: Crawfordsville)
* Morgan (Largest city: Martinsville)
* Newton (Largest city: Kentland)
* Noble (Largest city: Kendallville)
* Ohio (Largest city: Rising Sun)
* Orange (Largest city: Paoli)
* Owen (Largest city: Spencer)
* Parke (Largest city: Rockville)
* Pulaski (Largest city: Winamac)
* Putnam (Largest city: Greencastle)
* Randolph (Largest city: Winchester)
* Ripley (Largest city: Batesville)
* Rush (Largest city: Rushville)
* St. Joseph (Largest city: South Bend)
* Shelby (Largest city: Shelbyville)
* Steuben (Largest city: Angola)
* Tipton (Largest city: Tipton)
* Union (Largest city: Liberty)
* Wabash (Largest city: Wabash)
* Warren (Largest city: Williamsport)
* Washington (Largest city: Salem)
* Wayne (Largest city: Richmond)
* Wells (Largest city: Bluffton)
* White (Largest city: Monticello)
* Whitley (Largest city: Columbia City)