Struggling Democratic candidate Baron Hill is dropping out of Indiana’s Senate race and will be replaced by former Sen. Evan Bayh, CNN and other outlets are reporting. While no polling yet exists on Bayh’s chances of winning in November, FiveThirtyEight wrote in March that he would have significant built-in advantages and put the state “in play” for Democrats if he decided to run:
[Bayh] is still very popular in Indiana. According to a Howey Politics Indiana survey from 2013, Bayh had a favorable rating of 60 percent. That matches a late 2010 American Viewpoint poll that pegged his favorable rating at 63 percent.
Bayh wouldn’t have to raise a lot of money if he decided to run. He has almost $10 million on hand. To put that in perspective, Indiana’s other senator, Democrat Joe Donnelly, won his seat in 2012 with less than $6 million raised.
Bayh announced his 2010 retirement by condemning Washington, D.C., as a city occupied by out-of-touch partisans who are unduly controlled by wealthy special interests. He then immediately joined a K Street lobbying firm and bought a house closer to the center of the city.
