text: Open Seat #3: Indiana Sen. Dan Coats – The ELLIS Insight
  Republicans should certainly be favored to hold the Coats' seat, but there could be competition especially if former Sen. Bayh ultimately decides to run. The ex-incumbent is saying that such a race is not in his plans, "at this time", but he still controls over $10 million in campaign funds from his earlier time in the Senate. Upon leaving politics, Bayh did not send the money to any Democratic political committee or charity. He merely kept his campaign committee open, which is where the money still lies.
  Beyond Bayh, former Rep. Baron Hill's (D-IN-9) name will be mentioned as a possible candidate. Hill had a stormy career in Congress, winning his first election in 1998, losing his seat in 2004, re-gaining it in 2006 only to lose again in 2010. He previously ran for the Senate in 1990, falling to Coats in the special Senate election.
  But it's in the Republican primary where the major action will likely occur. In 2010, when Sen. Coats returned from retirement, he fought back three GOP opponents, and won with an underwhelming 39 percent of the vote. His closest competitor was Marlin Stutzman, who is now the 3rd District congressman. Stutzman is a likely Senate candidate as we enter a new post-Coats era.
  Other members of the congressional delegation will also weigh their chances for the statewide bid. Count on representatives Todd Rokita (R-IN-4), Susan Brooks (R-IN-5), Luke Messer (R-IN-6), and Todd Young (R-IN-9) to be mentioned as possible candidates at the very least. Other state Republicans will also likely consider entering the race.
  In what promises to be a topsy-turvy election cycle, we can now add the Indiana Senate seat to the list of campaigns that must be followed. Though Indiana consistently votes Republican at the statewide level, Democrats can certainly be a factor in any election as Sen. Joe Donnelly's (D) presence clearly suggests. We only have to go back to 2008 to find a Democrat winning at the presidential level, as then-Sen. Barack Obama topped Republican nominee John McCain in a surprise finish. Indiana was one of two states to return to the GOP column in 2012. North Carolina was the other.