Indiana Senate: Democrats Face Tuesday Deadline To Get A Candidate On The Primary Ballot

The abrupt retirement of Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) from the Senate leaves Democrats with roughly 24 hours to get a replacement candidate on the primary ballot in Indiana.

According to forms on the Indiana Secretary of State's website, in order to file a declaration of candidacy, a candidate must submit a petition of nomination signed by at least 4,500 registered voters of the state, including at least 500 registered voters from each of Indiana's nine congressional districts.

Each form must include: "(a) signature of each petitioner, (b) name of each petitioner printed legibly, and (c) residence mailing address of each petitioner," according to the candidate guide.

If any one of those elements is lacking, the signature can be challenged, meaning petitioners will have to spread across the state and gather many signatures over the minimum.

The deadline is noon on Tuesday and, for a major political party, is possible to meet.

If they fail, however, the state Democratic party can still get a candidate on the ballot. State rules allow the "state committee" to fill a vacancy before June 30.

The dual deadlines essentially give the state party the power to choose the candidate, rather than voters in a primary.

Spokespeople for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Indiana Secretary of State did not immediately return calls.

Comments

[gillianb]

06:11 PM on 02/16/2010

Evan Bayh ... what a whiner. What a quitter. Sarah must have held a class ... she seems to have had about a dozen "tutees."

I guess they can't take the heat, so they're getting out of the senate kitchen. Good riddance.

And Bayh has no worries ... he can live off his wife's millions that she amassed doing the bidding of the corporate masters.

David Letterman for Senate! He would get along just great with Al Franken. Ridiculous, you say? Not as ridiculous as some of the clowns we already have there. Of course he would have to move from Montana and New York, but hey ... we have had carpetbaggers in the senate. (Hi, Harold Ford!)

[dtghope]

03:29 AM on 02/16/2010

Quite a bland 'accountant-type' politician! With apologies to accountants!

[CGI]

10:08 PM on 02/15/2010

Mission Accomplished, eh, Evan?

[HenryDavid]

12:39 AM on 02/16/2010

Absolutely.

[offred]

06:45 PM on 02/15/2010

Bayh, very badly done. You couldn't have arrived at this decision, say, oh, last week?

[Inaru]

06:11 PM on 02/15/2010

Oh, lovely: "The dual deadlines essentially give the state party the power to choose the candidate, rather than voters in a primary." What's Rahm going to choose? You already know the answer. Yes, IN is more conservative then liberal, but heaven forbid the Dem Party actually tries to educate voters, instead of spend every second and penny on winning elections by promoting DINOs.

[Chise67]

09:15 PM on 02/15/2010

Every comment of yours I've ever read I agree with totally, & LIKE IT!

{{{{{{{{{{{FANNED}}}}}}}}}}}}

Have a nice evening!

[Inaru]

08:38 PM on 02/16/2010

Thanks, that's encouraging! Fanned back.

[wikwox]

06:04 PM on 02/15/2010

Nice guy thar Bayh, quits 24 hours before the filing dead line. America is better off without this clown regardless. That is until he shows up on K Street.

[mama4obama]

05:58 PM on 02/15/2010

All I can say is follow the money! Something is coming and it ain't gonna be good.

[miriamfl]

05:56 PM on 02/15/2010

I know he is more a centrist dem, but I agree that it has to be extremely hard to control your outrage at what is going on in congress. The repugs have no interest in working with a democratic congress regardless of the desperate needs of the American People. The repugs don't care that millions have lost their jobs that we have 2 possibly 3 wars going on thanks to the Bush Gang. The repugs are at war with the democratic party and they don't care about anything else.
The repugs and a handfull of faux dems are literally trying to destroy our government and want to create a corpocracy. WE THE PEOPLE will have no representation if these clowns get their way.

[edyang]

04:00 AM on 02/16/2010

You do know that Dems had a fillibuster proof supermajority and the WH right? So I fail to see what Republicans had to do with anything. What prevented Dems from passing whatever they wanted?

[I once had a Crysknife]

08:32 AM on 02/16/2010

The democrats didn't pass anything, because they want Republicans onboard to spread the blame.

[miriamfl]

08:53 AM on 02/16/2010

The democrats never had a super majority because the Lieb is a turncoat plus we were missing Kennedy and Byrd on many votes plus there are a handfull of repugs in dems masks, but what they should of done is what Bush and the GOP (Gang Of Psss) did because there was never 60 votes with them they passed many bill with the minimum required.

[Hawkeye17]

05:32 PM on 02/15/2010

Nice of him to wait until the last minute to inform us all. Stay classy Evan.

[emiliob6]

02:12 AM on 02/16/2010

Have nice day DINO, you were just in the way, maybe we can get a progressive Democrat to fill his seat.

[Rolf618]

05:14 PM on 02/15/2010

Draft a real progressive for Indiana - John Mellencamp (yes, THAT one)

Join the Facebook group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=312445776548&ref=nf

[Sundalecat]

05:18 PM on 02/15/2010

Right on!

[Sundalecat]

05:14 PM on 02/15/2010

I got to say this one helped make a mess of the Healthcare debate. Not quite as much as Nelson, Landrau, Lincoln and most of all Liebermann. I won't miss him. I cannot understand how Democrats act like Republicans. Republicans by their nature don't want government. They seem to hate it so why don't the 41 of them retire. They can go home sit around hate some more. Bayh acts like one so he should retire. The only difference between these Republicans and Bayh is that Bayh doesn't truly hate the government but still wants ruin it.

[L-DUB]

05:12 PM on 02/15/2010

I smell a scandal. Who did he knock-up??

[CGI]

10:13 PM on 02/15/2010

Impregnation, no. Screwing, yes. Who? America.

[HenryDavid]

12:33 AM on 02/16/2010

Excellent--brief but powerful.

[wilc]

05:00 PM on 02/15/2010

there is a DRAFT JOHN MELLENCAMP surge happening! He is very much in tune with both liberal and conservative Hoosiers!
He lives there, he is deeply political.

[learntofly]

05:06 PM on 02/15/2010

And he is a sometimes blogger at HP.

[Rolf618]

05:13 PM on 02/15/2010

Join the Facebook group!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=312445776548&ref=nf

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/15/14203/3248

[Forwarddownthefield]

05:21 PM on 02/15/2010

It certainly would be good for a laugh, like most dem contenders...

[Hufffan]

04:58 PM on 02/15/2010

Evan Bayh just gave the Democatic Party the big honkin "bird". Pretty much like he's been doing diligently for the past year.

[edyang]

04:01 AM on 02/16/2010

In other word he is a patriot. Thank goodness.

[gjohnthehorrible]

04:34 PM on 02/15/2010

I love how he waited till the last minute LOL.