Pro-Life Senator Dan Coats Leads in Fundraising

Dan Coats for Indiana

http://dancoatsforindiana.blogspot.com

Wall Street Journal

GOP Has Money Momentum in Open Senate Races

By Susan Davis

Underscoring the momentum shift behind the GOP in the midterm elections, Republican candidates out-raised Democrats in the second quarter in every competitive race for an open Senate seat.
Below is a snapshot of the key races and their money haul for the second quarter. Collectively, Republicans out-raised Democrats in these nine races by about $9 million in the three month span from April through June.
While this is good news for the GOP, there are caveats–as always. In several races, Republicans out-raised Democrats during the quarter, but the Democrat still has more money in the bank. In Indiana, for example, Republican Dan Coats out-raised Democrat Brad Ellsworth, but Ellsworth still holds a $200,000 cash-on-hand advantage.
And in competitive races with an incumbent Democrat, including California, Nevada, and Arkansas, the senator out-raised the Republican challengers.
But in the competitive races for open seats—where no incumbent is running—the GOP money momentum has picked up. Whether Republican candidates can maintain the cash advantage remains to be seen, and money doesn’t always translate in to Election Day victories, but the numbers underscore why the GOP is feeling bullish this year.
Delaware: Republican Rep. Mike Castle raised $837,000 and Democrat Chris Coons raised $698,000. The Delaware primary is Sept. 14.
Florida: Republican Marco Rubio raised $4.5 million while Democrat Kendrick Meek raised over $1 million. Both men are their party’s favorite in the Aug. 24 primary, but Meek is facing a primary challenge from self-funded billionaire Jeff Greene, and Gov. Charlie Crist is running as an independent. Crist hasn’t released his numbers yet, but he’s running competitively in the polls.

Indiana: Republican Dan Coats raised $1.5 million while Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth raised $600,000.

Illinois: Republican Rep. Mark Kirk raised $2.3 million while Democrat Alexi Giannoulias raised just over $900,000.
Kentucky: Republican Rand Paul raised just over $1.1 million while Democrat Jack Conway raised $1.4 million. However, $400,000 of Conway’s funds are his own personal wealth, while Paul has not lent himself any money.
Missouri: Republican Rep. Roy Blunt raised $2.2 million while Democrat Robin Carnahan raised $1.5 million.
New Hampshire: Republican Kelly Ayotte raised $720,000 while Democrat Paul Hodes raised $600,000.
Ohio: Republican Rob Portman raised $2.7 million while Democrat Lee Fisher raised $1 million.
Pennsylvania: Republican Pat Toomey raised $3.1 million while Democrat Joe Sestak raised nearly $2 million.

Indiana Poll Has Pro-Life Senate Candidate Dan Coats Leading Brad Ellsworth

Chris Dickson and Dan Coats

Dan Coats for Indiana
http://dancoatsforindiana.blogspot.com

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor

Indianapolis, IN (LifeNews.com) -- Fresh from his endorsement by two pro-life organizations, pro-life Senate candidate Dan Coats has a solid lead over his opponent Brad Ellsworth. The new Rasmussen Reports poll comes on the heels of the Susan B. Anthony List supporting Coats over Ellsworth, despite the latter saying he is pro-life.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters finds Coats with 51% support, while Ellsworth earns 30% of the vote, his poorest showing to date.
Another 6 percent of Hoosiers favor another candidate while 12 percent remain undecided.
Last month, Coats dropped below 50% but still led Ellsworth 47% to 33%. In five previous surveys back to February, support for Coats has ranged from 46% to 54%. In that same period, Ellsworth has picked up 32% to 36% of the vote.
Pollster Scott Rasmussen commented on the results: "Indicative of voter unhappiness in Indiana is that Ellsworth’s first statewide TV ad which just began airing in the last few days mentions his background as a sheriff and criticizes Washington lawmakers. But the ad never says that Ellsworth is currently a member of Congress."
The two candidates are contending for the seat held by pro-abortion Senator Evan Bayh -- who surprised his fellow Democrats with his announcement in January that he would not seek reelection. Now, it appears Coats, the Republican, will pick up the seat for pro-life advocates looking for another vote in the Senate.

Coats, who previously served as a senator from Indiana from 1989 to 1999, holds double-digit leads among both male and female voters. He holds a better than three-to-one lead among voters not affiliated with either major party.
Opposition to the pro-abortion national health care bill remains high in Indiana as 59% favor repeal of the bill that Ellsworth supported as a member of the House, while 35% oppose repeal. This is a higher level of support than is found nationally.
Last week, SBA List endorsed Coats and the endorsement is important because Ellsworth, who calls himself pro-life, let down pro-life groups when he supported the government-run health care bill that includes massive abortion funding with taxpayer dollars.

"Once again, the Senate is in great need of the pro-life statesmanship -- which Dan Coats has already proven time and again to possess. His commitment to rescind taxpayer funding of abortion in health care and in every aspect of federal spending is urgently needed in the coming Congress," Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund president Marjorie Dannenfelser told LifeNews.com.
Leading up to the health care vote, Ellsworth also upset pro-life groups when he proposed a so-called compromise on abortion funding that essentially did not ban taxpayer-funded abortions in the national health care plan.
National Right to Life has alsoendorsed Coats over Ellsworth. http://www.lifenews.com/state5126.html

Rasmussen: Coats (R) 51%, Ellsworth (D) 30%

 

Senator Dan Coats and Congressman Mike Pence

Dan Coats for Indiana
http://dancoatsforindiana.blogspot.com

Election 2010: Indiana Senate
Indiana Senate: Coats (R) 51%, Ellsworth (D) 30%

Indiana still has the look of a likely Republican Senate pickup, with former Senator Dan Coats remaining comfortably ahead of his Democratic

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Coats with 51% support, while Ellsworth earns 30% of the vote, his poorest showing to date. Six percent (6%) favor some other candidate in the race, while 12% remain undecided.

Last month, Coats dropped below 50% but still led Ellsworth 47% to 33%.

In five previous surveys back to February, support for Coats has ranged from 46% to 54%. In that same period, Ellsworth has picked up 32% to 36% of the vote.

The two candidates are contending for the seat held by Senator Evan Bayh who surprised his fellow Democrats with his announcement in January that he would not seek reelection. Bayh, who faced a tough GOP challenge, was still the favorite in the race at the time, but now the seat is rated Solid GOP in the Rasmussen Reports Senate Balance of Power ratings.

Just nine percent (9%) of Indiana voters rate the economy as good or excellent, while nearly half (49%) say it’s poor. Twenty-four percent (24%) say it’s getting better, but twice as many (48%) think it’s getting worse.

Coats, who previously served as a senator from Indiana from 1989 to 1999, holds double-digit leads among both male and female voters. He holds a better than three-to-one lead among voters not affiliated with either major party.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Indiana was conducted on June July 7-8, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Opposition to the national health care bill remains high in Indiana, traditionally a conservative, Republican leaning state. Fifty-nine percent (59%) favor repeal of the bill that Ellsworth supported as a member of the House, while 35% oppose repeal. This is a higher level of support than is found nationally. This includes 49% who Strongly Favor repeal and 21% who are Strongly Opposed.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of those who Strongly Favor repeal support Coats, while Ellsworth earns 78% of the vote from those who Strongly Oppose it.

Support in Indiana for Arizona’s new immigration law parallel findings nationally. Sixty-one percent (61%) of Indiana voters favor passage of a law like Arizona’s in their state, and just 25% oppose such a bill.

Coats gets 64% support from those who favor an Arizona-like law in Indiana. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of those who oppose a law like that favor Ellsworth.

Twenty-eight percent (28%) of all voters in the state agree with the Justice Department’s decision to challenge the Arizona law in court, but 57% disagree with that decision.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of those who agree with the challenge back Ellsworth. Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters who disagree with the Justice Department action favor Coats.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of Indiana voters, however, favor a welcoming immigration policy that only excludes national security threats, criminals and those who come here to live off the U.S. welfare system. Twenty-four percent (24%) disagree with a policy like that.

Coats is viewed Very Favorably by 13% and Very Unfavorably by eight percent (8%). Eighteen percent (18%) have no opinion of the former senator.

Ten percent (10%) have a Very Favorable opinion of Ellsworth, while nine percent (9%) view him Very Unfavorably. Twenty-eight percent (28%) don’t know enough about him to voice any kind of opinion.

At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of Indiana voters think the country is in a recession.

Twenty-eight percent (28%) believe the $787-billion economic stimulus plan helped the U.S. economy, but 38% say it hurt. This is close to voter sentiments nationally.

Twenty-six percent (26%) say the government spending in the stimulus plan created new jobs. Fifty-six percent (56%) disagree and say it did not create any new jobs.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) believe cutting taxes is a better way to create new jobs than increased government spending. Just 14% say increased spending is the way to go.

Forty-three percent (43%) of Indiana voters approve of President Obama’s job performance, while 56% disapprove. That’s in line with findings last month and a higher level of criticism than Obama earns nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Sixty-six percent (66%) now approve of how GOP Governor Mitch Daniels is performing, up eight points from the previous survey. Thirty-one percent (31%) disapprove.

Dan Coats on WTHR Channel 13 News

Dan Coats for Indiana
http://dancoatsforindiana.blogspot.com

November 2010 - "REAL" CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!

Susan B. Anthony List Endorses Dan Coats

Chris Dickson with Senator Dan Coats

Dannenfelser: "Dan Coats' commitment to repeal taxpayer funding of abortion in the health care law and in every aspect of federal spending will be urgently needed in the coming Congress."

Contact: Kerry Brown, Susan B. Anthony List, 703-470-1926, kbrown@sba-list.org

WASHINGTON, July 8 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today the Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund, a national pro-life political action committee, announced its endorsement of former Congressman (IN-04) and Senator Dan Coats, candidate for U.S. Senate in Indiana against opponent and Congressman Brad Ellsworth (IN-08). SBA List Candidate Fund President Marjorie Dannenfelser said of the endorsement:

"Once again, the Senate is in great need of the pro-life statesmanship Dan Coats has already proven time and again to possess. His commitment to rescind taxpayer funding of abortion in health care and in every aspect of federal spending is urgently needed in the coming Congress."

Coats served as a U.S. Congressman from 1981 to 1989 then as a U.S. Senator from 1989 to 1999. In May 2010, he won the five-way Indiana Republican primary with 39 percent of the vote. Coats will face Ellsworth in the November general election to fill the open seat left by retiring Senator Evan Bayh.

Ellsworth was elected Representative of Indiana's 8th district in 2006. As a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus, Ellsworth held a near-perfect pro-life voting record with the National Right to Life Committee until he voted in favor of a health care reform bill including the federal funding of abortion and, potentially, the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade.

"Dan Coats represents voters' views and women's needs on the issue of abortion far better than does his opponent," said Dannenfelser, referring to March 2010 polling company™ data revealing that 80 percent of IN-08 constituents oppose the use of tax dollars for abortion. In that same poll, 65 percent of Ellsworth's constituents said they would be less likely to re-elect him if he voted in favor of health care legislation including federal funded abortion.

In contrast, said Dannenfelser, "Hoosiers can trust Dan Coats to represent their views on the Life issue and to vote according to his conscience regardless of any political calculus."

The Susan B. Anthony List plans to spend $6 million on voter education in the midterm elections, including $3 million on key Senate races. The Susan B. Anthony List is a nationwide network of over 280,000 Americans, residing in all 50 states, dedicated to mobilizing, advancing, and representing pro-life women in politics. Its connected Candidate Fund increases the percentage of pro-life women in the political process.

For further information, please contact Kerry Brown at (703) 470-1926 or kbrown@sba-list.org.