Indianapolis - Former Sen. Dan Coats has won the Republican nomination for Indiana's open U.S. Senate seat, moving closer to a political comeback after being out of office for 12 years.
Coats beat four other Republicans in Tuesday's Indiana primary - including state Sen. Marlin Stutzman and former Rep. John Hostettler - to win the GOP nomination for the seat being vacated by Democrat Evan Bayh.
Coats says it's a much different atmosphere compared to the last time he campaigned. He served as senator from 1989 to 1999.
"It's a new day. People are much more engaged. I think that's a very healthy situation. There are question marks out there in terms of how those people are going to vote and the basis of what they're going to vote on. We'll know by tonight. It is a little more volatile situation than it's been before. It's not as predictable," said Coats, who was seen practicing his victory speech earlier Tuesday.
Coats only won 40 percent of the vote with 61 percent of precincts reporting, signaling a divide in the GOP between mainstream Republicans and more conservative tea party voters who split their votes between Hostettler and Stutzman.
That divide in the Republican Party could be an issue in November, when Coats will face conservative Democrat Rep. Brad Ellsworth.
In his victory speech, Coats targeted President Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi:
"In light of the damage that President Obama's policies already have done to the United States of America, as Hoosiers we cannot afford to be any part of it. We cannot and we will not stand idly by and watch as our personal liberties are diluted, our national security diminished, and our fiscal health destroyed. And we absolutely cannot afford to elect someone to the United States Senate who will enable this radical move to the left."
Congressional races
In Indiana's fourth district for US House of Representatives, Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita won the Republican nomination to replace Rep. Steve Buyer.
Andre Carson (D-IN07) and Thomas Hayhurst (D-IN03) were among the early winners in Indiana's primary election Tuesday. The Associated Press called the races for congressional candidates Carson and Hayhurst by 7:30 pm.
Jackie Walorski (R-IN02) won the GOP nomination for US House. In the third congressional district, Mark Souder held on for the GOP nomination. Baron Hill (D-IN09) won the Democratic nomination for US House.
Fifth district challenge: Burton holds off Messer
Incumbent Republican Dan Burton faced a challenge in the fifth district. He took an early lead with 36 percent of the vote (27 percent of precincts reporting). Luke Messer followed with 29 percent. But by 8:00 pm, the race in the fifth district had tightened up quite a bit. Burton was leading Messer just 32 to 30 percent.
By 9:30 pm, the Associated Press was calling the race for Burton with 99 percent of precincts reporting. In the end, Messer came within 2,500 votes of Burton.
"Well, there's no question there was a lot of anti-incumbent sentiment this year and I think people had justification for being upset at Congress," Burton said. "And when you don't know who to blame, you just blame everybody. I think about 60-65 percent of the people just said "throw them all out" and I can understand that. I'm just glad they're going to stick with me for another couple years."
Messer told his supporters to make no excuses, and to get behind Burton in the fall. Messer broke through a crowded field but trailed by at least two percentage points the entire night. He says the Republican Party can learn from his loss.
"I do think there are some lessons to be learned from this race. I'm very proud of the race that we've run and I do believe the people all across this state and all across the country are worried about the explosive growth of government and the creep towards socialism that they're seeing in Washington. But they want more out of Republican leadership than just fighting that fight," Messer told his supporters.
Messer would not say if he plans to run again. Right now he says he's looking forward to rest.
See all election results here
