2016 United States Senate election in Indiana


The 2016 United States Senate election in Indiana was held on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Indiana, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Incumbent Republican Senator Dan Coats, who has served in the Senate since 2011, and previously served from 1989 to 1999, had stated that he planned to run for re-election, but in March 2014 his chief of staff said that Coats "has decided not to decide whether to run again until after the midterm elections". On March 24, 2015, Coats announced that he would not run for re-election, citing that he would be of advanced age by the end of the 2017–2023 term, should he complete it. The primaries were held May 3, and were won by former U.S. Representative Baron Hill and incumbent U.S. Representative Todd Young. However, on July 11, 2016, Hill withdrew, and former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh entered the race to regain the seat he held from 1999 to 2011, and that his father, Birch Bayh, held from 1963 to 1981. The Indiana Democratic Party chose Bayh as Hill's replacement on July 22. Bayh was initially seen as the frontrunner, but faced heavy criticism over lobbying work that he had done after leaving office. Ultimately, Young won by a comfortable margin, defeating Bayh in the general election by 10 points.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Results

Democratic State Central Committee selection

On July 11, 2016, CNN's Tom LoBianco announced that Bayh would enter the race to regain his old Senate seat and Hill would drop out and withdraw his name from the November ballot. Hill soon after released a statement formally dropping out of the race saying he did not "...want to stand in the way of Democrats winning Indiana and the U.S. Senate. That would not be fair to my party or my state. And, the stakes are far too high in this election not to put my country above my own political ambitions," without explicitly endorsing Bayh. The first candidate to declare was Bob Kern, a frequent candidate for Congress in various districts around the state. Bayh officially declared for the race July 13. The Indiana Democratic Party's State Central Committee chose Bayh as Hill's replacement, for the general election.

Candidates

Candidates

Endorsements

Predictions

Polling


Hypothetical polling		------

;with Baron Hill

Results

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