Donnelly Looking At Lugar Challenge
Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) is taking a close look at a potential bid for Sen. Richard Lugar's (R) seat, according to sources familiar with his thinking, as the prospect of facing a much more conservative contender grows.
An Indiana Democratic source familiar with Donnelly's thinking confirmed that Donnelly is looking more closely at the Senate race than he is at a potential gubernatorial contest. "He's taking a very serious look at the Senate race," the source said.
State Democratic Party chairman Dan Parker, in Washington for a meeting of the Democratic National Committee, has heard the same thing. "He has not indicated to me that the Senate race would be out of the question," Parker said.
Democrats in Indiana need to field prominent contenders for both the Senate contest, in which Lugar is running for a seventh term, and the governor's race, an open seat contest. So far, Democrats have seen several high-profile contenders say they will not run for office, most recently Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel and former Rep. Brad Ellsworth.
Without Weinzapfel, Ellsworth or former Sen. Evan Bayh in the mix, Democrats are focusing on two names that have emerged as possible front-runners for the two 2012 contests: Donnelly and former state House Speaker John Gregg, who is considering a gubernatorial bid.
But Democrats are cautioning against the possibility of a bruising primary battle in races for Senate or governor.
"Based on the experience of our 2008 gubernatorial primary, there's a strong desire internally within the party to avoid having a primary fight for either race," said Parker.
In the 2008 Democratic primary, former Rep. Jill Long Thompson narrowly defeated businessman Jim Schellinger in a very competitive race. Long Thompson, sapped of money and saddled with a divided party, went on to lose by double digits to Gov. Mitch Daniels (R).
If Gregg ends up in the gubernatorial race and Donnelly enters the Senate contest, Democrats may be able to avoid the primary fight Parker cautioned against, though other lesser-known candidates remain possibilities for both races.
Donnelly's calculations will be made with an eye toward the state legislature, which controls the redistricting process in Indiana. Republicans have hoped to gerrymander Donnelly's South Bend-based seat in their favor by giving him more GOP-heavy precincts. If legislators draw a district Donnelly does not believe he can win, he would be more likely to seek a higher office.
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