On Tuesday, Indiana Republicans will elect a nominee to take on Democratic congressman Brad Ellsworth in the state’s mid-term Senate race. Republicans have a prime opportunity to take over the seat being vacated by Evan Bayh, but prominent conservatives have been divided on whether to support former Senator Dan Coats or 33 year-old state senator and family farmer Marlin Stutzman for the GOP nomination. It’s something of an establishmentarian versus reformist fight, but don’t be confused: this isn’t a mirror image of the Florida Republican primary.
Dan Coats is no Charlie Crist. He has a mostly conservative voting record and has won the backing of conservative stalwarts Sen. Tom Coburn and Rep. Mike Pence, as well as Focus on the Family’s James Dobson. Both Coats and Stutzman are pro-life, support repealing Obamacare, and oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants. The biggest mark against Coats’s conservative bona fides is his 1993 vote for the Brady gun bill. Conservatives can rest assured that gun control isn’t exactly going to be an issue in the near future.
