Indiana Republican Larry Bucshon, a heart surgeon, has made official his his 2010 bid to challenge two-term Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth.
Bucshon declared his candidacy Monday in Newburgh, a community just east of Evansville, the largest city in a conservative-leaning district that also takes in Terre Haute.
Bucshon criticized the fiscal policies pursued by the Obama administration and the Democratic-run Congress, though he also said that Republicans need to acknowledge "we were partially to blame for the increased government spending over the past decade."
On health care, Bucshon said that he will "work to restore the direct link between doctors and their patients."
Ellsworth in his first term voted to increase the minimum wage and to approve loans to automakers and a $700 billion program to stabilize the financial markets. This year he voted for the economic stimulus law but opposed a "cap-and-trade" system of limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
Indiana's 8th long had a history of contentious and close elections, though Ellsworth trounced Republican Rep. John Hostettler in the 2006 election and won re-election in 2008 by nearly 30 percentage points over an underfunded Republican.
Ellsworth won in a landslide even though Indiana's 8th, by a margin of 51 percent to 47 percent, preferred John McCain over Barack Obama for the presidency.
CQ Politics presently rates the Indiana 8 race as Safe Democratic, mainly because of Ellsworth's dominance, though we'll monitor this race for signs of competitiveness.
To follow the 2010 House races, check out the CQ Politics election map
![[RSS]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/rss_icon.gif){kind=icon}
![[ARCHIVES]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/archives_icon.png){kind=icon}
Comments
Ellsworth is a tough incumbent, GOP will probably have to wait until after redistricting to shake things up. The GOP is guaranteed control given Gov. Daniels re-election last year (he appoints the tie-breaking member of the "fall-back" redistricting panel) even if Dems keep control of the state house.
Posted by: NObama
| October 13, 2009 9:45 PM
Post A Comment