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Indiana elections, 2010

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Indiana elections, 2010

Elections were held in Indiana on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Primary elections were held on May 4, 2010.

Contents

United States Senate

On February 15, 2010, incumbent Senator Evan Bayh announced that he would not seek reelection. This shocked the Democratic base, which had expected Bayh to seek a third term in the Senate and had thus not fielded any other candidates. On May 15, the executive committee of the Indiana Democratic Party announced that Representative Brad Ellsworth would be the party's nominee for Senator. Dan Coats, the winner of the five-way Republican primary election, was Ellsworth's main competitor in the race, along with Libertarian Rebecca Sink-Burris, and two independent candidates in the general election. During the campaign, Ellsworth attacked Coats' record as a lobbyist, while Coats branded Ellsworth as a puppet of President Obama and then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. On election day, Coats won 54.4% of the vote to Ellsworth's 40%. Rebecca Sink-Burris received 5.4%.

United States House of Representatives

All of Indiana's nine seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2010. In the United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana, 2008, Democrats had won five of Indiana's nine seats in the House, but public dissatisfaction with Democratic President Obama, combined with the birth of the Tea Party movement, led Republicans to win back two of these seats, giving them six seats to the Democrats' three.

Secretary of State

Incumbent Sec. Todd Rokita (R) was term-limited and could not run for reelection. Candidates to replace Rokita included Democrat Vop Osili, Republican Charlie White, and Libertarian Mike Wherry. White won the election with 57% of the vote, but was soon charged with voter fraud, and was convicted of this offense and removed from office in December 2011.

Treasurer

Incumbent Republican Treasurer Richard Mourdock ran for reelection. His Democratic opponent was Pete Buttigieg. Mourdock won a second term as treasurer with 62% of the vote.

Auditor

Incumbent Republican Auditor Tim Berry ran for reelection. He faced Democrat Sam Locke and Libertarian Eric Knipe in the general election. Berry won reelection with 58% of the vote to Locke's 37%.

State Senate

25 seats in the Indiana Senate were up for election in 2010, a majority of which were won by the Republicans.

State House of Representatives

All 100 seats in the Indiana House of Representatives were up for election in 2010. A large majority of these were seized by the Republicans, giving them legislative dominance, but not enough to meet quorum without Democratic attendance.

Judicial positions

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 2010.

Ballot measures

One statewide ballot measure was certified:

  1. Add a property tax cap amendment to the Indiana Constitution

The measure passed at the polls, with 28% of voters against the proposition.

Local

Many elections for county offices were also held on November 2, 2010.

References

Indiana elections, 2010 Wikipedia