Indiana Senate Poll: Bayh’s 6-Point Lead Evaporates

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Two weeks ago, a Monmouth poll found that Democrat Evan Bayh had a 6-point lead over Republican Todd Young in the Indiana Senate race, but that same pollster now finds the race tied:

Turning to the contest to succeed retiring Republican U.S. Senator Dan Coats, former senator Evan Bayh and Congressman Todd Young are tied at 45% for Bayh and 45% for Young. Libertarian Lucy Brenton garners 4% of the vote. Bayh had held a steady 6 to 7 point lead in prior Monmouth polls – 48% to 42% in mid-October and 48% to 41% in August.

Every public poll conducted since August has shown Bayh with a lead until now. It’s possible that the FBI investigation related to Hillary Clinton’s emails is dragging down Bayh in a Republican-leaning state, but Chris Deaton recently observed that there are three other issues hurting Bayh. On October 8, the AP broke the news that “Evan Bayh spent substantial time during his last year in the Senate searching for a job in the private sector, even as he cast votes on issues of interest to his future corporate bosses.” Then on October 21 the AP had another scoop that Bayh hadn’t spent a single night in his Indiana condo the last year of his Senate term. But perhaps most damaging of all was more bad news last week about Obamacare’s rising costs.

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