I don't understand why people are focusing on 15 races or 40. There are 435 seats up for grabs, and I think we should fight for all 435. I am going through state by state to introduce each race and which ones I think we can win. I have put up an
ActBlue page for this project and appreciate any donations you can make to it.
In the meantime.
Yesterday, I went through Colorado.
Today, I am going through INDIANA!
Indiana has nine Congessional districts. Democrats are fielding challengers in all nine districts. We currently hold 2 seats of 9 (districts 1 and 7).
IN-1 is the Western fifth of the northern third of the state including the very industrial cities of Gary and Hammond. The region is 68% Democratic and very blue collar. Pete Visclosky is about as safe as any Dem can be in Indiana.
IN-1: Safe blue
IN-2 is the right smack dab in the middle of the northern third of the state including South Bend and Michigan City. Now that we're outside the gravitational force of Chicago, the redness of Indiana kicks in. Chris Chocola won this race by 9 in 2004, but Joe Donnelly (one of my ActBlue candidates) has been putting up a real fight and is currently leading by 5! If you have a little extra moolah sitting around, this is a great race to throw it at.
IN-2: Leaning blue
IN-3 is the Western third of the northern third of the state including Fort Wayne. Here Dr. Tom Hayhurst is running against Mark Souder who won this district by 38. You'd figure that Hayhurst was just gonna die in this one. But you'd be wrong. Hayhurst outraised Souder and has nearly twice the cash on hand! This guy is no neophyte. He's been on Fort Wayne's City Council for ten years and won his last reelection with 2/3 of votes cast. I don't think anyone's watching this race, but they should be because Hayhurst may just give Souder a nice thrashing.
IN-3: Toss-up
IN-4 is just East of dead center in the state and includes Lafayette and the eastern suburbs of Indianapolis. This is a 70% red district where David Sanders is looking to dislode Steve Buyer. Sanders lost to Buyer by 40 last time, and while he is claiming more individual donors than Buyer, I think that this is not going to be his year.
IN-4: Safe red
IN-5 is the other side of Indianapolis and includes the booming metropolis of Shelbyville. This is another dipped in red paint district. Dan Burton is running against Katherine Carr, who seems to be a nice lady but, um, well, let's just say that in order for Katherine to win this one, Dan's going to have to be caught in a compromising position with Santorum's dog. Could happen. Not likely.
IN-5: Safe red
IN-6 is the Western half of the state just above where the curve ends. Barry Welsh is running against Mike Pence. In a different year, this would be a non-contest with Pence outraising Welsh 3.5:1. But this isn't a different year. With financial support for name recognition, Welsh is in a position to make a run of it. Welsh has gone out of his way to woo the netroots, and Feingold has noticed him, but he's sure gonna need our help.
IN-6: Leans red
IN-7 - Indianapolis. Like most major metropoli, Indy is a blue town. Kerry won IN-7 with 58% of the vote. Julia Carson is safe.
IN-7: Safe blue
IN-8 - Eastern third, Southern half of the state including Evansville and Terre Haute. Brad Ellsworth is really making a race of this, and it is now considered too close to call. Yeah. Not for me.
IN-8: Blue by 3 laps!
IN-9 - the Southwestern portion of the state and literally a 50/50 district. The once and future Congressman Baron Hill lost this race by 1500 votes before, and he isn't taking chances. But, me, I'm free to count this one for us.
IN-9: Blue in '06.
I'm betting on 3 pick-ups. Combined with the ones I think we're going to get from Colorado, I think we've got six pickups so far.