Published: November 05, 2008 12:16 pm         

Donnelly secures 2nd term

All nine incumbent Indiana congressmen retain seats

INDIANAPOLIS — In an election year dominated by calls for change, Indiana’s congressional delegation didn’t.

All nine of Indiana’s congressmen retained their seats Tuesday, including Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly, who defeated Republican business-owner Luke Puckett in northern Indiana’s 2nd District.

“What I think it says is that, for the voters in our congressional district, I promised change and I brought change,” said Donnelly, who was elected to his first term in 2006.

Donnelly carried a strong majority over Puckett, who was making his first run for public office.

In Cass County, Donnelly received 8,848 votes, or 57 percent, compared to Puckett’s 6,079. Libertarian candidate Mark Vogel received 488 votes. Throughout the district, Donnelly earned 67 percent of the vote to Puckett’s 30 percent.

“I’m really pleased and also humbled,” Donnelly said of his final margin. “It’s a tremendous honor to have had Cass County support me the way they did with a majority of the votes in the county. The same with Carroll County and so many of the counties in our district. It’s a great honor that I take with the utmost seriousness. I will work nonstop to reflect the opportunity that the folks in the Logansport area have given me.”

Donnelly, who has been recognized for his efforts to be an independent voice in the U.S. House of Representatives, said it will be important for both parties to work together to address the challenges facing the country.

“Everyone is looking toward America to lead the world toward financial stability and toward stability in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said. “I take that challenge seriously and I plan to accomplish those goals.”

Two of Donnelly’s major campaign issues were job creation and energy independence. With his second term now on the horizon, Donnelly said those will remain two of the top priorities.

Although Donnelly beat Puckett by a comfortable 37 percentage points, some margins of victory may have been a little too close for comfort.

“All of those winners are now breathing a sigh of relief,” said James McCann, a political science professor at Purdue University.

Democrat Mike Montagano, a 27-year-old lawyer, failed to unseat Republican Rep. Mark Souder, who was first elected to the Republican-leaning 3rd District in northeast Indiana in 1994. National Democrats had spent heavily in support of Montagano, with television commercials attacking Souder as a Washington insider and touting Montagano as an abortion opponent who favors gun rights. But it wasn’t enough for a Montagano win.

Montagano was pleased with how far his campaign had come, even though he was disappointed by the loss, said campaign manager Daynan Crull.

“This was one of the most competitive, toughest-fought battles, I think, in the country,” he said.

Democratic challenger Nels Ackerson, a lawyer and former aide to Sen. Birch Bayh, ran an active campaign against Republican Rep. Steve Buyer. But Buyer won a ninth term in the Republican-leaning 4th District, although he received a smaller percentage of the vote than he has in years past. Buyer said support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may have had an effect, but he said voters are comfortable with him.

“They know me, and I know them,” Buyer said.

The closer-than-usual margins of victory in the 3rd and 4th districts were a sign of serious challengers boosted by Democratic momentum, McCann said.

“The lesson those incumbents learned is that they dodged a bullet,” McCann said.

Freshmen congressmen are typically easier targets for challengers. But Indiana’s three new Democratic congressmen easily won re-election.

In addition to Donnelly’s victory, Rep. Andre Carson won the 7th District in Indianapolis against GOP challenger Gabrielle Campo, a social worker who entered the race after the primary winner dropped out. And Rep. Brad Ellsworth in southwest Indiana’s 8th District defeated Republican Greg Goode, a former congressional aide who struggled to raise campaign cash.

Democratic Rep. Baron Hill in southeast Indiana’s 9th District won his rematch with former Rep. Mike Sodrel, a Republican and trucking company owner. The two have faced off in four consecutive elections, with Hill defeating Sodrel in 2002, then losing to him in 2004 before reclaiming the seat in 2006.

“I have known victory and I have known defeat,” Sodrel said. “I am at peace with the outcome.”

Democrat Pete Visclosky won a 13th term in the heavily Democratic 1st District in northwest Indiana, and Republican Reps. Dan Burton and Mike Pence retained their seats in the 5th and 6th districts, respectively.